Merger of school groups for special education
Two large school groups for special education in the east of the Netherlands will merge on 1 August 2017. The ZML Twente / East Gelderland Foundation (TWOG) is transferring all six schools to the larger Foundation for Special Education Twente and East Gelderland (SOTOG). “Thanks to this merger, the small locations must remain intact,” says Frank de Vries, chairman of the board of SOTOG.
Last week, President of the Executive Board De Vries received permission from the Ministry of Education to merge. The Education Fusion Assessment Committee previously advised State Secretary Sander Dekker positively. “The merger means that the expertise within our school foundation will be broadened,” says De Vries.
Cluster 3 and 4
The TWOG Foundation provides education for pupils aged four to twenty with a Cluser-3 indication. These are students with an intellectual disability, multiple disabilities or social-emotional problems. The teachers of SOTOG teach cluster 4 students with behavioral or psychological problems.
After a search between ten school boards, SOTOG eventually became the board with which TWOG wanted to merge. “The TWOG Foundation is smaller - 600 students, 230 employees - and was looking for a firmer board,” explains De Vries.
A merger allows the smaller locations to survive. This is important, because in a rural region the distances are often greater. We want to guarantee proximity. Parents and children should benefit from this.
Preserve jobs
The participation councils agreed without discussion, according to the president of the Executive Board. “All jobs will be kept and the different school names will remain the same. Nothing will change for the staff and the students.” The merger is not a result of economic necessity, De Vries emphasises. The schools do think that they will notice the consequences of appropriate education in the classroom in the long term. “Although, we do not yet have a large number of fewer students.”
The merger will mainly provide more knowledge within the school group. “We are getting more experts within one foundation. This broad knowledge is important and useful for a number of issues, such as sitters or pupils where one-on-one contact is required. It is faster and easier. ” De Vries explains that the school groups motivate the staff to voluntarily work at a different school location, so that knowledge is exchanged.
After the merger, SOTOG will have a total of two thousand students at fifteen different schools for special (secondary) education.
