O4NT Foundation receives tuition fees for closed Steve Jobs School
Since October last year, the O4NT foundation has received almost a ton of tuition money for the Amsterdam Steve Jobsschool De Voor departure, while lessons have not been taught at that school since then. There appears to be still one student registered. The Education Inspectorate is investigating the matter.
Source: Pixabay
This is evident from information requested by the Education Magazine. The O4NT school board chaired by Maurice de Hond was placed under stricter financial supervision last year due to financial problems.
De Voorsprung is one of the two Steve Job schools that were opened in 2014 by the Education 4 Nieuwe Tijd foundation (O4NT) in Amsterdam. The school, located in the Zuid-Oost district, did not get off the ground in terms of student numbers. That is why it was decided last summer to finish the school.
Discontinued
On October 1, 2016, there were still five registrations. Later that month, the last students left and education was discontinued. Since then the school is no longer in operation and De Voor departure only exists on paper.
But the board foundation O4NT (not to be confused with the national organization with practically the same name) still receives more than twenty thousand euros in tuition money for De Voorraag every month. This funding is based on sixteen students, the number of registrations in the previous school year (called T-1 in jargon). In the months of November 2016 up to and including February 2017, this involves just under 90 euros, thus data from DUO. For the entire 2016-2017 school year, this will be approximately 250 euros, according to decisions sent by DUO to O22NT on 2016 November 20 and 2017 January 4.
Overview of financial decisions jan. 2017 O4NT
Overview of financial decisions 2016 O4NT
Inquiries at DUO show that the funding continues, because not all students have been deregistered. O4NT chairman Maurice de Hond confirms the exceptional situation. According to him, there is one more student registered who could not be placed in another school. “The student is in a redeployment process,” he says in a response. “This student is registered with us and we are still responsible for him. If this pupil has to receive lessons from our school in South-East again, we will continue to do so until the end of the school year. ”
Magnifying glass
The Education Inspectorate is investigating the case. This investigation must reveal whether O4NT has incorrectly received part of the funding and must repay it. DUO is also awaiting the results of the inspection investigation.
The issue is especially remarkable because O4NT is under a magnifying glass at the Education Inspectorate. Last November, the Education Inspectorate placed the foundation under stricter financial supervision. The board is struggling with lagging student numbers and has seen its assets and bank balance decline since 2015. Based on forecasts provided by O4NT itself, the inspection concluded six months ago that the foundation could run into payment problems.
Partly thanks to the financing for De Voorheugen, O4NT has been able to strengthen its financial position. “Because lessons are no longer taught at De Voor Lente, the foundation has spent less money, especially on personnel costs,” says De Hond.
The other school of the foundation, De Ontplooiing in the Nieuw-West district, is also not getting off the ground enough. O4NT is therefore working on a transfer of the school to the Westelijke Tuinsteden foundation, which has also established a school with the same concept at the same location. That should happen next summer. De Ontlooiing, which has more than 130 students this school year, will no longer have to meet the foundation standard of 322 students in five years. Ultimately, the O4NT school board is disbanded.
Perils
De Hond attributes the lagging pupil numbers mainly to problems surrounding housing. O4NT was given “a pair of classrooms two high behind deep in South-East” for De Voor spring, in the building of another primary school. According to him, an alternative location failed due to the unwillingness of another school board.
According to De Hond, De Ontplooiing in Nieuw-West could not initially expand quickly enough to serve the growth, and in the second instance could not further grow in the same place or find another suitable accommodation. “A catch-22 situation”, he calls it. "Parents want to know where their children are going to school before registering them, and the municipality will not come up with an offer for housing until there are enough new registrations."
Published
Between October 2015 and September 2016, the Inspectorate investigated the financial situation at O4NT. The report adopted on November 14 last year should have been published before the Christmas holidays, but this did not happen due to a 'technical error' at the Education Inspectorate. Only this month did O4NT appear on the list of institutions subject to stricter financial supervision.
Download: Report of findings final financial Continuity Supervision O4NT
