This Dutch far-right party now runs a school in Almere, and you’re paying for it

A primary school founded by the far-right Forum voor Democratie (FVD) has opened in Almere this month, funded by government subsidies.

According to its website, the so-called Renaissance School offers education “inspired by the values, beauty, and excellence of European civilisation”, built on the philosophy that “old Europe was better than the new.”

Undeterred by several failed attempts to secure government funding in the past, AD reports that the school will now receive a subsidy “to keep going for at least a few years.”

Needless to say, not everyone’s a fan.

“Concerning,” says State Secretary Tielen

MPs from VVD (Arend Kisteman) and D66 (Ilana Rooderkerk) have both filed parliamentary questions over public money funding a school founded by the far-right FVD.

While State Secretary Judith Tielen hasn’t formally responded, AD states that she finds the situation “concerning”.

Helaas, she can’t do much about it. Under Article 23 of the Dutch constitution, anyone can set up a school around their own religious, philosophical, or educational beliefs, and apply for funding — provided they meet certain legal requirements.

“The requirements are strict: sufficient interest, a positive assessment from the Inspectorate in advance, a Certificate of Conduct for board members, and an invitation to schools in the region,” Tielen tells NU.nl.

For her part, Rooderkerk questions whether Article 23 leaves room for schools to practice “discrimination, exclusion, anti-democratic education or party political indoctrination.”

Meet the school your taxes are paying for

Everything at the Renaissance School, in its own words, revolves around the “Old European World”. In practice, that involves teaching boys and girls separately, which the school says reflects biological differences between the sexes.

Meanwhile, FVD founder Thierry Baudet has been open about the school’s wider aim, which is meant to help train people to carry the party’s ideology forward.

The school qualified for funding through a 2020 law that loosened the rules for founding new schools, one that the governing coalition of D66, VVD and CDA has now agreed to revise, saying it caused “unforeseen problems”.

That law has driven a wave of new schools, reports the NOS, with one in three approved since 2023 being Islamic.

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