The transfer test (‘doorstroomtoets’), the successor to the Cito test, must be held in the week before the carnival holiday, announced Minister of Education Mariëlle Paul this Monday. There is annoyance in Eindhoven about the apparent indifference in The Hague towards the folk festival.
Limburg municipalities previously urged to move the flow test, but received no response. This also leads to furrowed eyebrows in Eindhoven. “If I have to be honest, I think it’s outrageous,” says Ivo Soetens of the Eindhoven Carnival Federation.
“I am a lawyer in everyday life, and the words abject and infamous come to mind,” says Soeten with a wink, referring to the well-known statement by former colleague Abraham Moscowitz.
Not valued
Soetens does not think that the consequences for the decision will be very great, but says that he is disturbed by the attitude in The Hague. “It mainly creates the feeling that the party is not valued at all, that we are not taken seriously. That’s not nice, but we don’t have to dwell on it for too long.”
The latter feeling also prevails at primary school umbrella organization SKPO. “We have to take the test in the week before the carnival holiday. That’s not ideal. Children are of course looking forward to the party, which is already being prepared at school. It’s already been a very busy week and the advancement test doesn’t make it any easier,” says SKPO director Ingrid Sluiter.
Education week
“On the other hand, it is just a week in which education has to be given. It is also not the case that we necessarily have to take the test on the Friday before the holiday. We will have to be a little creative with it, but I don’t expect any serious problems from this planning,” says Sluiter.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
