Coalition parties CDA and the ChristenUnie do not yet seem convinced of a new law that gives the Minister of Education more powers to intervene in the event of abuses at educational institutions. On Thursday, a bill that should make this possible was debated.
Agreements have been made in the coalition agreement on more stringent interventions against mala fide educational institutions. However, an earlier bill was criticized by the Council of State (RvS), after which the cabinet had to go back to the drawing board. It now appears that the original bill has been sent to the House of Representatives. To the disbelief of the CDA and the ChristenUnie, the criticism of the RvS has therefore not been taken to heart.
The new law broadens the definition of ‘maladministration’ at educational institutions. This allows the minister to intervene if the quality of education falls short according to the Education Inspectorate. Under the current law, for example, the minister can only intervene in financial mismanagement if education money is spent on things for which it is not intended. The new law also ensures that the inspectorate and the minister can intervene more quickly.
Member of parliament Stieneke van der Graaf (ChristenUnie) wonders to what extent the new law is proportional and necessary. It is precisely this criticism that the RvS previously made. Van der Graaf therefore wonders why Minister Dennis Wiersma (Education) wants to expand his powers.
CDA MP René Peters is also critical. For example, following the advice of the Council of State, the proposal was amended in such a way that the minister could only intervene in the event of “serious suspicions”. In the bill that is now before us, “reasonable suspicions” are sufficient. Peters is afraid that the law will lead to “incident politics”, whereby the House can demand that the cabinet take action in the event of problems in schools.
Minister Wiersma seemed unable to convince both MPs with his answers. According to Wiersma, a “decisive instrument” is needed, in which the words ‘serious’ and ‘reasonable’ are legally quite different. However, he emphasized that the law is only invoked in extreme cases, following an inspection report.
The debate on the bill was not concluded on Thursday, but is likely to resume before the summer.
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