Maurice de Hond steps down as the face of Dutch Steve Jobs Schools
Maurice de Hond is withdrawing as the figurehead of the Steve Job schools in the Netherlands. Negative publicity over the past nine months plays a role in that decision, he said in a press release today. His involvement as 'fame' is counterproductive in his view. De Hond will focus on foreign countries within his company.
Five years ago, opinion pollster and entrepreneur De Hond took the initiative for the O4NT school concept (Education 4 New Age). Outside the Netherlands, schools in South Africa and Spain are working with his educational model, the press release said. At his company sCoolsuite, which focuses on spreading the educational model, wild dog now focus exclusively on the foreign market.
In the Netherlands, the number of Steve Job schools falls short of the high expectations that De Hond once set itself, it concluded Education magazine last October based on our own research. De Volkskrant recently came to the same conclusion after a renewed tour.
Driver
In 2014 De Hond also became director of two new Steve Job schools in Amsterdam: De Ontplooiing and De Voor departure. But the growth in the number of students is disappointing and the foundation standard would not be achieved. The pupils of De Ontlooiing are therefore transferred to another foundation, that is the intention.
De Voor departure closed its doors last autumn. Nevertheless, the board still received tens of thousands of euros in education money every month, the Onderwijsblad reported last March.
One other student was registered who could not be placed in another school. The board chaired by De Hond was approved by the Education Inspectorate last autumn tightened financial supervision placed.
Declaration
'Partly because of my personal background and reputation, the educational concept was able to get started faster,' writes De Hond. But it has also led to an 'unbalanced positioning'. According to him, his involvement evokes unjustified associations, such as the suggestion that students in iPad education should no longer have to learn to write. "The iPad is not the goal but one of the means to achieve our goal."
And: 'The enlargement in the Dutch media of what is not (yet) going well, with headlines that further reinforce the negative, linked to my person, does many people short: the teachers and directors, who work with this concept with great enthusiasm , the students and their parents and all employees within our company. So my involvement within the Netherlands is now counterproductive, 'the statement said.
