Minister Warsma wants primary and secondary education to rapidly expand the number of places in so-called newcomer schools in the coming weeks. The intention is that children from Ukraine will mainly go to these private schools and not to regular education.
In the newcomers’ schools, children “who have all gone through the same misery” receive Dutch lessons from day one, and attention is also given to what they have been through. That is why, according to Wiersma, these schools are more suitable for Ukrainian refugees than regular schools.
Wursma said on the WNL TV show that he wants to increase the number of classes in existing schools and, if necessary, create new temporary educational facilities.
A temporary school will open in De Harskamp in Ede next week, especially for Ukrainian refugees. This also pertains to older students, who would like to take exams this year, for example. In Amstelveen and Arnhem, among other places, work is now underway on a temporary school for Ukrainians.
It is expected that between 15,000 and 25,000 Ukrainian children will come to the Netherlands. Wiersma takes into account that they should be taken care of at least until the summer holidays. But it can also take longer. “We just don’t know,” he said. Usually, children move from newcomer schools to regular education after a year or two.
