Turkish Delight for the Low Countries? The Cosmicus Schools in the Netherlands and the Lucerna Colleges of Belgium
The Netherlands and Belgium have a long tradition of schools run by Christian churches but financed fully by the state. In both countries this was the result of a complicated historical struggle with anti-religious trends in society. In the past, Christian organizations were also strong in the field...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
De Gruyter, Versita
2012
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| In: |
The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences
Year: 2012, Volume: 3, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-24 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Netherlands and Belgium have a long tradition of schools run by Christian churches but financed fully by the state. In both countries this was the result of a complicated historical struggle with anti-religious trends in society. In the past, Christian organizations were also strong in the fields of health care and providing for the poor. From the 1960s on, hospitals and social security were taken over by the state, but the Christian influence survived in the field of educa-tion, notwithstanding the ongoing secularization in society and a decrease in the role of Christianity. In the Netherlands, 65% of all primary and secondary education is still given in fully subsidized schools that are mostly administered by a Protestant or Catho-lic board. Religious institutions are now rather weak in the media and in health care. In politics the Christian Democratic Appeal party has continued to be a dominating force since 1980 and the prime minister would very often be a mem-ber of that party. From 1994 to 1998, the Christian democrats held no cabinet posts in the government for the first time in 80 years. But they returned. From 2002 to 2010, the Netherlands was again run by a government under a Christian Democrat, Jan Peter Balkenende. So, education and politics seem to be the last remaining strongholds for the influence of religion in Dutch society. Dutch "pollarization" did not only have confessional consequences. In the field of education, it was also used for more secular but non-governmental initia-tives. In various cities elitist private primary schools were opened to give reli-giously neutral education. There are primary and secondary schools organized on the basis of the Montessori and Dalton systems. There is also a national network of "private" schools based on the ideas of the founder of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner. All these initiatives continue within the existing system of state funding of private initiatives for education until now. We will see how some have also cooperated with the initiatives of the Cosmicus initiatives in the Netherlands. In Belgium we see a similar development, with some differences due to his-torical background. Belgium never experienced the strong secularizing trend of the French revolution. Churches are still owned and maintained by the state and the majority of the priests, ministers, and rabbis (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish) enjoy a basic salary from the government. Religious education for these religions is given in all schools. In the 1990s the Belgian government recognized a single Muslim organization, Executive, as eligible to receive similar subsidies from the Belgian government, but many details still have to be worked out. |
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| ISSN: | 2199-6172 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences
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