After twenty years of “battle”, finally the authorization for Duinzigt Havo

The Fioretti Foundation Teylingen de Voorhout receives permission from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to establish a new school in Oegstgeest. This is the HAVO education at the Duinzigt sector of Teylingen College. This decision fulfills a long-standing wish of the school.

At the school on the Wijttenbachlaan in Oegstgeest HAVO is already taught, but later three HAVO students had to change schools. This will continue to be the case in the next school year. From the 2023-2024 school year, HAVO pupils can complete their studies in Duinzigt. During this first year, Deputy Director Frank de Haan takes on three HAVO 4 classes, a year later this doubles, as three HAVO 5 classes are then added. In total there are 150 students. “This means that all students who are now in 2 havo can complete their studies in Duinzigt”, says De Haan.

No intervention is necessary in the building to accommodate these six additional classes. “We are now quite comfortable with ourselves,” says De Haan. “In 1999 we merged with Leeuwenhorst in Noordwijkerhout. This school offered a general upper secondary education and, thanks to a building of tolerance, the pupils also followed the Duindigt HAVO education for a few years. Finally, after years of political and legal battle, this construction had to be stopped in 2007. At the time, the school had about 900 students. Now there are about six hundred.

Chris de Waard visited the Duinzigt sector of Teylingen College and spoke with Deputy Principal Frank de Haan about permission to also offer Havo 4 and 5.

need measurement
For twenty years now, De Haan and his colleagues have been trying to obtain permission for full HAVO training. When the new law “More space for new schools” came into force in 2020, the process finally started to move. In order to be eligible for new school funding, it must first be demonstrated that there is sufficient interest in the area where the school will be located. A so-called measurement of interest must be carried out for this. Parents were asked to file a statement. Duinzigt collected almost 320 of these parental statements. More than enough for the official app. It was done last year.

Quality of education
The Inspectorate’s assessment of the expected quality of teaching is sufficient for all solidity requirements. This means that the Inspectorate’s opinion on the expected quality of education is positive. Quite peculiar given the fact that of the sixteen requests for new schools, only two were granted by the ministry. This makes the arrival of the Duingigt Havo a fact. Funding for the school will begin August 1, 2023.

Oegstgeest training