21 February 2019•Update: 22 February 2019
By Abdullah Asiran
AMERSFOORT, The Netherlands
Islamic schools in the Netherlands have performed the best among all primary schools for five years.
According to annual school research by a Dutch television news service, RTL News, Islamic schools in the country received the highest score in 2018 with an average of 7.4 in the nationwide test at the end of primary school.
In the research, RTL compared school results of the last three years.
Islamic Primary School El Boukhari in the western Leerdam city came fifth, El Habib School in the southern Maastricht city ninth, and Islamic Primary School Bilal in central Amersfoort city 10th, among 6,000 schools in the country.
It is no coincidence that Islamic schools have been the most successful for five years, director of Gokhan Coban Islamic School Boards Organization (ISBO), told Anadolu Agency.
"Teachers work hard in our schools, and we offer religious education to children two hours a week in addition to the national curriculum," Coban added.
Islamic schools are now an indispensable part of the Netherlands. They make great contribution to the Dutch society, he noted.
A total of 12,500 student are studying at 53 Islamic school nationwide.
Religious schools, which are funded by the states, have the same national curriculum as public schools. However, they have a bit more freedom to add religious teaching to their curriculum.
Participation in the test at the end of primary education is essential for entrance into the secondary education.
*Faruk Zorlu from Ankara has contributed to this story.
