The site DossierKoninkrijksrelaties reports that State Secretary Marielle Paul announced today in the Second Chamber that the Sacred Heart School has been placed under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science. This intervention follows alarming findings from the Education Inspectorate, which accuses the school’s governing body, the Catholic Education Saba Foundation, of “mismanagement.”

The school’s education quality is reportedly “deficient in all aspects,” leading to significant learning delays among students. Despite being aware of the issue, the school board has failed to take appropriate corrective actions. The directors are also facing accusations of financial mismanagement.

State Secretary Paul is considering further measures. One option is issuing directives to compel the board to address the issues. However, given the severity and prolonged duration of the failures, it is increasingly likely that the current administrators will be removed from their positions.

Summary of the findings of the Biennial Quality Audit of the Education Inspectorate: Inspection dates: April 11–12, 2024

The Education Inspectorate conducted a risk-focused quality audit at the Sacred Heart School on April 11–12, 2024, deviating from the usual schedule due to concerns about the school’s financial situation, safety, and educational quality. The purpose of this audit was to assess whether the school complies with legal standards related to educational quality, financial management, and safety.

Final Verdict

The educational quality at Sacred Heart School has been rated as Insufficient. The following standards did not meet expectations:

• Vision, Ambitions, and Goals (SKA1)
• Implementation and Quality Culture (SKA2)
• Accountability, Evaluation, and Dialogue (SKA3)
• Student Development and Support (OP2)
• Pedagogical and Didactic Practice (OP3)
• Teaching Time (OP4)
• Safety (VS1)

Additionally, the school’s guide does not meet legal requirements, and it fails to adhere to the mandated vacation schedule.

Required Improvements

1. Student Development: The school must ensure continuous student development and alignment of educational practices with individual progress. Inconsistent methods and unclear agreements on student care led to varying levels of support, depending on the teacher. A lack of effective use of student care, coupled with insufficient lessons in Dutch and English, is causing learning delays.
2. Lesson Quality: The quality of instruction must improve. Inefficient use of time during lessons, lack of clear instruction, and poor differentiation result in students learning too little, leading to further delays. Classroom management is inconsistent, leaving students uncertain about expectations.
3. Teaching Time: More instructional time must be allocated for students, and time must be used more effectively to ensure sufficient learning opportunities.
4. Safety Policy: The school must update its safety policy, appoint a safety coordinator, and designate a contact person to address bullying issues.
5. Educational Vision: The school needs a clear vision of quality education, supported by all stakeholders, with measurable goals and ambitions. All staff must understand the management team’s objectives and the expected results. The internal distribution of responsibilities must also be clarified, ensuring everyone knows their roles.
6. Quality Assurance: A functioning quality assurance system must be implemented to regularly evaluate, analyze, improve, and maintain educational quality. The school management must make necessary adjustments requiring regular consultation and improved communication within the teaching team.
7. Professional and Safe Learning Environment: The school must foster a professional and safe learning and improvement culture. School management, the board, and teachers need to take responsibility and collaborate on improving educational quality.
8. School Guide: The school guide must meet legal standards, including clear descriptions of educational goals, outcomes, early childhood education approaches, voluntary parental contribution, complaints procedures, safety and absenteeism policies, and educational results, along with any measures taken to address shortcomings.
9. Combating Disadvantages: The school must implement structural and recognizable efforts to address language delays, specifically by including Dutch language instruction.
10. Vacation Compliance: The school must comply with the legally mandated vacation schedule.
11. Citizenship Program: The school should provide a coherent, structured citizenship education program.

Continuation

Due to the insufficient quality of education, the Education Inspectorate is increasing oversight. The school board must ensure that Sacred Heart School meets the required educational standards within one year.

During the recovery period, four progress meetings will be held with the board and management. These will assess the board’s progress in fulfilling the recovery plan, which will be outlined in a supervisory plan with interim improvement agreements.

A follow-up audit will be conducted one year after the adoption of this report to ensure the school has achieved the necessary improvements and meets the basic quality standards.

Board’s Response

The board outlines below how it will incorporate the findings from the study into the further development of educational quality:

We acknowledge receipt of the correspondence and draft report, and we would like to formally respond. The findings of the quality survey are not new to us. We identified many of these concerns ourselves as early as November 2023 and have since been actively working to restore and improve the quality of education at our school. During her presentation to the inspectors, the headmaster outlined the improvement plan, which addressed several of these concerns. The report provides us with further guidance on the necessary steps forward.

Since the findings were presented in April, both the board and school have continued implementing the recommended improvements. Several key areas have already been addressed, such as adjusting the holiday schedule and teaching hours for the coming years. With these changes, we are largely in compliance with the required standards, while still allowing for two study days and two cancellation days.

Beginning next year, we will establish a management team under the headmaster’s leadership, allowing her to focus more fully on improving the quality of education and its delivery. We are also working diligently to create a new safety plan that meets all current requirements, with the sports teacher taking responsibility for its implementation in collaboration with the rest of the staff.

We are fortunate to be working closely with the Diocese of Willemstad, who are offering their expertise and support as we make these improvements. We are grateful for the clear guidelines provided in the report, as they not only offer direction but also set a clear path for us moving forward.

However, we would like to express concerns regarding the tight timeline for these improvements and the feasibility of meeting all targets. This is particularly challenging given our financial constraints, which limit our ability to hire additional support.

Despite these challenges, the board and school remain optimistic and look forward to a productive and successful new school year. We are committed to working together to meet the quality requirements and achieve our shared goals.

Next

The Education Inspectorate also investigated the Administrative Actions of the School Board. A summary of the findings is reported HERE.

The full reports (in Dutch) can be downlinked from the website DossierKoninkrijksrelaties.