Highest Dutch court orders government to fund new Islamic school

The Netherlands’ highest court on Wednesday told the government it must fund an Islamic school in Amsterdam that authorities had tried to ban, tapping into a divisive debate about the role of Muslim culture in Dutch society.  Deputy Education Minister Sander Dekker withheld funding for the school in 2014, shortly after a member of its […]

The Netherlands’ highest court on Wednesday told the government it must fund an Islamic school in Amsterdam that authorities had tried to ban, tapping into a divisive debate about the role of Muslim culture in Dutch society. 

Deputy Education Minister Sander Dekker withheld funding for the school in 2014, shortly after a member of its board expressed support for militant group Islamic State in a Facebook post. 

But the Council of State reversed that decision, concluding there were “no valid grounds” to refuse funding as the person in question had since left the board, which had publicly condemned the posting. 

The public secondary school will offer Dutch-language education with a focus on Islam to approximately 180 students. It will be the second school of its kind in the Netherlands, it said on its website. (Reuters)