There is a phenomenon taking hold of Dutch schools that hearkens back to the bad old days of apartheid South Africa.
Although it is not legally stipulated, there is a distinct trend of native white Dutch students steering clear of schools dominated by students with their origins in countries like Suriname, Morocco, Turkey or Somalia. Some locals even avoid the schools in their own neighbourhoods because they are dominated by kids from other races.
The widespread perception of these schools is that they offer an inferior education.
The issue of ‘black” schools is a hot topic in the Netherlands with politicians and parents all justifying why the phenomenon is taking place. In Amsterdam 50% of the school population is from non-Dutch origin so it is logical that in some areas students would be largely from other parts of the world.
Some Dutch parents argue that the standard at schools where immigrants attend is lower because of Dutch being their second language. ‘Parents have to choose between being politically correct and giving their child the best possible education,” says one Dutch mother.
But any South African visting Reigersbos, one so-called black school in the southeast part of Amsterdam, would assume that this is some larney private high school. The school has a closer resemblance to our own private and privileged institutions than to a ghetto school.
Walking through the Reigersbos school gates are Suriname, Moroccan, Chinese and Somalian teenagers, mixed in with a few white children.
The girls are dressed in jeans with some of the boys sporting ‘Tupac” T-shirts. In the cafeteria, students are hanging out in groups, doing homework or just chatting quietly. Interactions are distinctly civilised: there is no drug-taking or evidence of couples kissing; no sign of big radios or sounds of lewd rap music.
Attending a fifth grade economics period are about 17 ethnically mixed teenagers ranging between 15- and 18-years-old. They enter the class, immediately sit down and the teacher begins discussing current issues in Dutch.
This picture is a far cry from the negative stereotypes that have been lumped on such schools. Marga van Rïjn, the economics teacher at Reigersbos, says ‘there is a widespread perception that these students are difficult, not polite to teachers or that the classrooms are overrun with drugs”. Most of these Dutch children or their parents who have made this judgement have not even visited the schools, content to automatically stereotype them.
Van Rïjn believes the source of much of this polarisation between race groups is ‘a lack of interest on the part of the Dutch parents. Their attitude is ‘Don’t bother me’. Immigrants can do what they want and are free to be here but the locals take no responsibility for integrating with them.”
She says that, because these areas are predominantly where immigrants live, there is a tendency for more black children to attend these schools. ‘The consequence for Dutch education is that we have black schools and white schools.” By separating students there are few opportunities for real integration. ‘You will not get these children to feel Dutch,” says van Rïjn.
But language is an issue: ‘I see how my students formulate compared to Dutch students who have a bigger vocabulary and are automatically more advanced.” She says that the strong Dutch students raise the level in the classroom so immigrant students improve their vocabulary. Van Rïjn adds that her students have created their own Dutch slang that reflects a mix of their cultures.
There are language programmes for immigrant students, but van Rïjn believes the best programme is for immigrants to mix with Dutch-speaking children.
The immigrant students are aware of the negative perceptions wider society holds of them, such as that they are less intelligent. ‘We have the same level of education as any other school but because we come from this area they think we are inferior,” says Henna Cexel of Suriname descent, an aspiring accountant.
Afra Verkerk is a white, Dutch student, one of three white students in the class. She says: ‘I don’t want to go to another school. I think it is good to know other cultures. The newcomers have to learn the language and we can help them.” Ver-kerk says that when she goes for horse-riding lessons the Dutch children ask her why she is at a black school. ‘They think the school’s standards are bad but actually the level is the same. They just don’t know what it is like to be at the school. For me it is no problem.”
Van Rïjn says that the cultural dynamics have definitely led to her students feeling inferior to Dutch students. ‘When we go to a museum my [black] students are shy, they have no confidence. The white children run into the museum but my [black] students feel like they don’t fit in.”
Social problems are a factor in predominantly black areas where single parent families are prevalent. But Van Rïjn feels that these stereotypes are exaggerated in Dutch society.
In a country where human rights are upheld and committees for almost any injustice exists, the phenomenon of black schools is an embarrassment to Dutch society. Currently there are three black schools in Amsterdam but media reports suggest that integration of immigrants into Dutch society is slow, thus perpetuating the
phenomenon.