The Amsterdam city council and the national government will reduce funding for the As Siddieq Islamic school, which has three locations in Amsterdam. The school faces cuts because it has ‘failed to meet agreements on citizenship and social integration’. State Secretary of Education Sharon Dijksma said she is reacting to a critical report by the government’s Education Inspectorate which found that the As Siddieq school is not doing enough to integrate its pupils in society. In addition to the move by the national government, Amsterdam education councilor Lodewijk Asscher withdrew the municipal subsidy to As Siddieq. He has lost confidence in the school board, he told board members in a town hall meeting.
As Siddieq drew attention earlier this month when Hennie Metsemakers, a former teacher who was suspended by the school a year and a half ago, publicly claimed that the school encouraged children not to integrate and treated non-Muslim teachers as inferior.
