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Integration by Other Means: Hindu schooling in the Netherlands
Michael S. Merry & Geert Driessen
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands m.s.merry@uva.nl
ITS, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands g.driessen@its.ru.nl
Paper XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, ‘Bordering, re-bordering
and new possibilities in education and society’, Istanbul, Turkey, June 14-18, 2010.
Introduction
With migratory patterns globally on the rise, the language of integration now reverberates
prominently within the industrialized nation states. For decades cultural and ethnic
difference were the primary markers of immigrants but increasingly there is now a shift onto
religion. The politics of integration entails that ethnic minorities – be they immigrants,
asylum seekers, or even indigenous – accept the dominant political and cultural norms of the
host society (cf. Vasta, 2007). Yet “integration” is an ideologically loaded concept with many
implicit features whose meanings are not entirely evident either to the immigrant or to the
native population. Consequently, there is much debate concerning its conditions, indicators
and requirements (cf. Berry, 2003).
Schools are arguably the most effective means of enacting the aims of integration. In
many societies, schools are at least partly designed to be places where children of different
backgrounds converge to learn together, and also to learn about, and from, one another.1
Therefore, schools that to the dominant group seem segregated present a serious challenge to
the aims of integration. But not all schools with separate pupil populations are alike; some
are the legacy of de jure segregation and white flight, but others host relatively homogeneous
minority pupil populations by choice. That is, theirs is a form of voluntary separation. This
chapter is an exploration into one type of school about which very little has been said, viz.,
the Hindu school in the Netherlands. These schools consciously promote cultural and
religious distinctiveness with the aim of facilitating emancipation and integration by other
means.
The primary aim of this chapter is to assess how well, and by what means, Hindu
schools try to accomplish the aims of integration in a vernacular that is predicated on
voluntary separation. Though Hindu schools are open to non-Hindu children, their primary
aim is to educate children of like cultural and religious background. And, like other schools
whose instructional design is religiously specific, Hindu schools have faith-building, identity
formation and emancipation among their central aims. We will explore the specific cultural
and religious components that are used to form the identities of children, and how these are
1
Dutch educational policy now departs from the idea that persons live in a multicultural society and that it
should be the explicit task of schools to prepare children to function adequately in them (NMEC, 2007).
2
operationalized as emancipatory practices. In particular we will examine how these features
are conceptualized, developed and connected to learning, and how Hindu schools concretely
prepare pupils to negotiate their place in a society in which they are visible minorities.
Further, to the extent possible, we will investigate whether the academic outcomes Hindu
schools strive for are bearing fruit.
Our study will be based on a review of the available literature, Hindu school
websites2
, analyses of general demographic data from Statistics Netherlands and school
composition data from the Dutch Ministry of Education, analysis of the yearly school-
specific evaluation and monitoring reports from the Dutch Inspectorate of Education, and
semi-structured interviews with the administrator of the Hindu School Foundation and the
deputy principal of a Hindu school. When compared to research on Muslims in Western
societies, or, for that matter, Islamic schools, research carried out on Western Hindus, and
certainly Hindu schools, is virtually non-existent. Only a handful of media reports are
available, all of them merely announcing the opening of Hindu schools. Indeed, the very first
qualitative dissertation ever carried out on Dutch Hindu schools was completed in late 2008
at the University of Tilburg.3
Consequently, gathering and analyzing peer-reviewed data on
Hindu schools in the Netherlands, where they fall within the ambit of state-provided
education, is for the time being only possible by referring to official reports and by making
school visits. Thus given the virtual absence of any studies on Hindu schools, both
theoretical and empirical, this chapter aims to fill an important gap.
We proceed as follows. First we describe the central features of Hinduism. While the
theological and/or philosophical tenets of Hinduism are central to the pedagogy of Dutch
Hindu schools, we will explain why religion per se is not the most important contribution to
the children who attend them. Next we examine the colonial history of Dutch Hindus and
elucidate why Dutch Hindus have managed to integrate into Dutch society at a far quicker
pace than some other immigrant groups. We then look into the reasons for the establishment
of Hindu schools in the Netherlands, showing how the Dutch system of education facilitates
schools of this sort. Next we explore the process of identity formation and how this
complements the emancipatory aims of Hindu schools. Finally we will consider a number of
challenges that Hindu schools may face in the coming years.
Hindu Belief
Hindu oral tradition dates back at least to the 8th
millennium BCE. It is believed that sacred
knowledge was “heard” by rishis (seers) and orally transmitted. These sruti texts, “heard“ by
2
See http://www.shrivishnu.nl/ ; http://www.shriganesha.nl/ ; http://www.shrilaksmi.nl/ ;
http://www.shrikrishna.nl/ ; http://www.shrisaraswatie.nl/ ; http://www.vahon.nl/; also see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8709uYIwfE and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxnr5ZRKgSo&feature=related. Each of the school‘s websites includes a
prospectus with, among other things, information on the school’s founding history, religious-philosophical
orientation, educational goals and contents, didactical approach, staff, provisions for special needs pupils,
parental participation, and pupil achievement.
3
The thesis defense was attended by the first author.
3
sages during meditation, were eventually canonized and are known today as the Vedas.
Hinduism is best described as a henotheistic religion, meaning that it is a plural form of
monotheism: a polytheism within a monotheism. Similar to the way Muslims describe the
ninety-nine attributes of God, Hinduism’s purported three hundred and thirty million gods are
more properly interpreted as manifestations or expressions of the one divine Being, Brahmā.
Sometimes Brahmā is described in terms of a Hindu trinity, or trimurti, with Brahmā or
Ishvara as Creator Lord, Vishnu as preserver, and Siva as destroyer. Taken together they
symbolize the circle or samsara of life. Whatever the case, bhakti or personal devotion to an
individual god (e.g., Kali, Sarasvati, Ganesh) is an integral part of ordinary Hindu practice.
The basic human condition in Hinduism is suffering, and the root of all suffering is
ignorance. Suffering is governed by the laws of karma. What one reaps, one also sows;
deeds shape not only the character but also the soul. The wheel of life or sequence of change
(samsara) is one that each Hindu hopes to escape. Moving up through a series of
reincarnations enables one to gradually attain a level (Brahmin) where one can be released
(moksha) from this life. No matter how many reincarnations one has, the self (atman)
remains the same; it only assumes different bodies. Detachment from impermanent things,
and union (samadhi) with the Absolute is the ultimate spiritual aim.
Metaphysically, Hindus accept the impermanence (annica) of things. Attachment to
impermanent things is seen as a key obstacle to enlightenment in Hinduism. What persons
perceive is ultimately maya or illusion owing to the sentiments, memories and personal
projections we cast onto impermanent things. Because we rely upon our sense perceptions,
there is something real about what we encounter, but in their essence, there is only maya.
Attachment is due to ignorance (avidya), which misperceives what is Real.
The foregoing represent rather high-minded ideals which do not occupy the thoughts
of ordinary Hindus. However, most Hindus do endeavour to model their lives upon the
principles of Hindū dharma, which refers to the ethical way of life and thought. A broad
term, dharma encompasses customs, duties, social welfare, ethics and health. All devout
Hindus espouse ahimsa or non-violence, and they apply this concept to both humans and
non-humans alike.4
The vast majority of Hindus also believe that tolerance of religious
difference is essential. Wisdom distilled from the Upanishads suggests that every person
carries a spark of the divine, that the human race is an extended family, and that the truth is
one, though the wise call it by many names. Unlike Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in
Hinduism generally there is far less emphasis on doctrinal purity or scriptural authority.
Hinduism easily incorporates features from other religions (notably from those which have
formally split from Hinduism such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism) and thus except for
fairly recent politicized movements in India, very few if any exclusivist theological claims
are made.
4
That said, every five years there is a major Hindu festival in Bariyapur, Nepal, during which more than
200,000 animals are slaughtered en masse to honor the goddess Gadhimai. The 2009 festival was predictably
met with protests from animal rights activists as well as many prominent Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. See
Bhanot, 2009.
4
Dutch Hindus
By far most Dutch Hindus originate from Surinam, which was a Dutch plantation colony
from 1667 until 1953. In 1975 it became an independent republic. In the intermediary period
it was granted a system of limited self-government. Between 1873 and 1916, approximately
35,000 indentured labourers were brought to Surinam from the British Indian states of Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh by Dutch colonial interests in order to replace recently freed African
slaves. Paid labour was scarcely better than slavery itself.
Most Indian migrants had backgrounds in farming and migrated to Surinam due to
severe drought and famine in India. 80 percent of the Indian arrivals were Hindu. Upon their
arrival, they found themselves vulnerable both to prejudice from other groups, whether
indigenous or those with African or mixed European-African ancestry (Creole), whose social
position was often worse. Unlike in neighbouring Guyana, a British colony, Dutch efforts to
convert Hindus was not the norm. Instead, similar to the way they organized their own
society in the Netherlands, the colonizers separated the various groups in Surinam, a pattern
which still holds. Different religious and ethnic groups generally occupy different areas and
villages in a pattern of relatively peaceful co-existence (Vertovec 1995).
During the indentured labour period, Hinduism in Surinam underwent major changes
in orientation, redefining itself in its new environment. Eventually the caste system, a central
feature of vaishnavite Hinduism in northeastern India, was abolished, a process brought to
completion with the arrival of the anti-Brahmin and more strictly monotheistic arya sarnaj
movement. Moreover, unlike neighbouring British colonies, where efforts to Anglicize the
Indian population were part of a protracted assimilationist campaign, the use of Hindi – the
official language of India – continues to be used in formal situations and for religious
purposes (Koefoed & Jadoenandansing, 1993). It was estimated that in 2009 Surinam had
482,000 inhabitants, of whom 37 percent are of Indian descent, and approximately 27 percent
of whom adhere to Hinduism (CIA, 2009).5
In the immigration process to the Netherlands, various waves can be discerned. First
came the Surinamese elite for higher education. In the 1960s, other groups followed their
example. It was not until the 1970s, and especially upon receiving independence from the
Netherlands in 1975 that large numbers of poorer Surinamese, particularly from the ethnic
minority Chinese, Javanese and Indian groups, re-settled in the Netherlands for political
reasons and to seek out better economic opportunities. After 1980, immigration continued
for reasons of family reunification and formation. The arrival of non-white immigrants,
concentrated mainly in the larger western urban centers, resulted in discrimination,
particularly for black Surinamese, both in the housing and labour markets (Bovenkerk, 1978;
Van Amersfoort & Van Niekerk, 2006).
Of the approximately 225,000- 300,000 persons of Indian descent living in the
Netherlands today, 85percent have immigrated from Surinam. In 2004 there were 99,000
Hindus in the Netherlands, of which 83,000 originated from Surinam, and 11,000 from India
5
About 1 percent of Surinamese of Indian descent are Christians and 20 percent are Muslims (Koefoed &
Jadoenandansing, 1991).
5
(CBS, 2009). Whereas a significant percentage of Surinamese Hindus once retained dual
citizenship, owing to changes in Dutch immigration policy in the mid 1990s, many have
opted exclusively for Dutch citizenship, though they retain to the right to return to Surinam if
they wish. Today the largest concentrations of Surinamese can be found in Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, The Hague and Almere.
Notwithstanding the earlier setbacks, Surinamese immigrants have managed to
integrate in the Netherlands in spite of their visible minority status. While the socio-
economic position of Afro-Surinamese and Indo-Surinamese relative to Dutch society was
nearly the same in the first fifteen to twenty years, different patterns of social mobility
emerged with the latter eventually making faster progress (Van Niekerk, 2004). Command of
the Dutch language, high rates of intermarriage with native Dutch, and an historical
relationship with the Netherlands have eased their transition relative to other groups. Other
evidence suggests that the hierarchally-organized and community-oriented Indian
community, together with a strong social cohesion and control, an entrepreneurial work ethic
and high social aspirations, all combine to explain the rapid integrative advancement of
Dutch Hindus.6
In addition to support for the Surinamese community, Hindus also enjoy
government sponsored weekly television and radio programming, organized and run by
Hindus, which focuses on issues affecting the Hindu community in the Netherlands and
abroad. Today, Dutch Hindus are cast as model minorities, certainly when compared to the
largest immigrant groups in the Netherlands, the Moroccans and Turks (cf. Dagevos &
Gijsberts, 2007).
Dutch Hindu Schools
Freedom of education
Since the revision of its constitution in 1917, the Netherlands has guaranteed educational
freedoms, together with full support for funding, to establish special (bijzondere) schools
with religious or didactic aims and methods. Article 23 of the Dutch constitution was the
result of a hard-fought-over school struggle (schoolstrijd) for public recognition and funding
between Protestants and Catholics on the one hand, and secular Liberals on the other. This
struggle can be seen as part of an emancipation process of the indigenous Dutch religious
social groups.
Many ‘special’ schools (e.g., Jenaplan, Steiner, Montessori) are very popular,
especially among well-educated, white parents; others, which represent religious
denominational differences, also remain popular, and in fact continue to educate a majority of
Dutch children. This remains something of a paradox in the Netherlands: while
secularization has steadily progressed in all societal sectors since the 1960s, the number of
religious schools has remained constant with a market share of 67 percent (Driessen &
Merry, 2006). At this moment, 33 percent of all primary schools are public schools, 30
6
Scholars have used a situational analysis to better understand the dynamics between the reception in the
receiving society, the design of government policies which aim to assist immigrant groups, the labor market
conditions, and the social composition of the ethnic community (cf. Vermeulen, 2000).
6
percent are Catholic, 26 percent are Protestant, and the rest are schools of smaller
denominations including branches of orthodox Protestant, Islamic, Jewish and Hindu schools.
Notwithstanding their specific denomination, all schools promote, to one degree or another,
shared beliefs, values, habits and interactions among school and community members.
The founding of Hindu schools
While the Dutch state has played a facilitative role in fostering educational pluralism, not all
religious schools have been welcomed with open arms. For example, in their twenty year
history, Islamic schools have struggled under an image problem; during periods of political
crisis (e.g., following 9/11 or the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004) public sentiment briefly
turned against the Muslim minority and a number of Islamic schools were vandalized (Buijs
2009). In addition, it has become clear that in terms of their pupils’ achievements the 43
Islamic schools that are in existence now have not succeeded in living up to their
expectations. Recent scandals involving fiscal mismanagement by the schools’ boards have
only worsened their reputation (Driessen, 2008; Merry & Driessen, 2009).
Like Islamic schools, Hindu schools cater mostly to a cultural and religious minority,
but more importantly to a higher then average percentage of socio-economically
disadvantaged children.7
Further, like Islamic schools, Hindu schools represent a form of
voluntary separation, one that appears to conflict with the rhetoric of integration. Yet in
contrast to Islamic schools, Hindu schools are fewer in number, manage to produce better
than average academic results, have not been subject to scandal, have received very little
media attention, and recent school openings have been welcomed by the Ministry of
Education.
Presently there are six Hindu primary schools in the Netherlands. They are located in
Den Haag (2), Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Almere. The first Hindu primary school
was founded in 1988 (at the same time as the first Islamic school), the sixth and most recent
opened its doors in 2008. (There are now plans to establish a Hindu secondary school.) That
it took so long before the first school was established is a bit surprising considering that the
Dutch pillarized school system, based on the principle of freedom of education, offers any
denomination the same opportunity to establish its own schools. The reasons for the long
delay may have been simply a shortage of pioneers and educational expertise among
Surinamese immigrants; further, for a long time there has been a trust in the quality of Dutch
education; finally there are important differences in orientation between first and second
generation immigrants (Van Ammersfort & van Niekerk 2006; Van Niekerk 2000).
Motives for establishing Hindu schools vary, but they include concern for the
academic reputation, a desire that one’s children become acquainted with the cultural
background of the parents, and the hope that they will play a positive role in the integration
process of Hindu youngsters (Bloemberg & Nijhuis, 1993; Roelsma-Somer, 2008; Teunissen,
1990). Because Hindu schools follow the constitutional guarantees which permit schools to
7
The percentage of children from low-educated families varies from one school to another. In Amsterdam the
figure is 53 percent, in Rotterdam 50 percent, Utrecht 53 percent, Den Haag 47 percent, and Almere 38 percent.
7
be founded on the basis of a worldview or philosophy, each of these is fully funded by the
Dutch state. While they are free to favour Hindu teachers and principals, all schools are
expected to follow the attainment targets in terms of teaching matter set by the Ministry of
Education. Most of the pupils in Hindu schools of course have a Hindu background, but in at
least one Hindu school, owing to its diverse neighborhood characteristics and strong
academic reputation, more than 25 percent of the children are either Muslim or Christian.
Perhaps also surprising is that this school has a number of Muslim teachers.
To understand the position of Hindu schools in a broader perspective, i.e. the Dutch
denominational school landscape, a comparison was made between a number of demographic
background characteristics of Hindu schools, Islamic schools, Catholic schools, Protestant
schools, public schools and the average Dutch primary school. This analysis was based on
national population data concerning the 2008-2009 school year. In that year there were 6891
primary schools of which 32.9 percent was public, 30.1 percent Catholic, and 26.2 percent
Protestant Christian; the rest represented a number of small denominations. There were 6
Hindu schools (or 0.1%) and 41 Islamic schools (or 0.6%). All of the Hindu schools are
situated in the large cities in the western part of the Netherlands, while most Islamic schools
are located in the large cities in the western and southern part .
Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the different school
denominations : the number of pupils (i.e. school size); the percentage of ethnic minorities (at
least one of the pupil’s parents was born in a Mediterranean country or a non-English
speaking country outside of Europe or is a refugee); the percentage of disadvantaged pupils
(i.e. their parents are low-educated and/or perform manual labor or are without a job and/or
are from ethnic minorities8
); and the percentages of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and
Antillean pupils, respectively.
Table 1 - Demographic characteristics of various categories of denominational schools and
the average Dutch primary school (school year 2008-2009; means per school)
Public Catholic Protestant Hindu Islamic Average
Number of pupils 210 255 211 276 228 225
% Ethnic minorities 14.5 9.8 8.2 77.0 89.2 11.1
% Disadvantaged 19.6 15.5 14.0 44.5 63.4 16.1
% Turkish 7.0 5.3 5.6 1.4 31.4 6.3
% Moroccan 7.2 6.0 5.9 0.0 43.0 6.8
% Surinamese 3.8 2.6 3.5 71.9 3.1 3.6
% Antillean 2.0 1.5 1.9 1.0 1.1 1.8
Total number of schools 2264 2075 1806 6 41 6891
Total number of pupils 474,643 529,329 380,278 1,654 9,331 1,552,894
There are a number of striking differences between the various denominational types of
schools. For starters, Hindu schools are the largest schools. Although both Hindu schools
and Islamic schools are known as so-called black schools, Hindu schools cater to far fewer
8
These indicators stem from the Educational Priority Policy where they were used to award schools with
(many) disadvantaged pupils extra facilities (cf. Driessen & Dekkers, 2008). Recently this classification system
has been changed in such a way that only the parents’ education level has remained a relevant indicator.
8
ethnic minority and disadvantaged pupils (77 v. 89% and 45 v. 63% respectively). The latter
probably has to do with the fact that Surinamese Hindus in general are better educated and in
paid jobs than Turks and Moroccans. In addition, in the case of Hindu schools the main
country of origin by far is Surinam, while for the Islamic schools this is (either) Morocco or
Turkey. This also explains the differences in mean disadvantaged status of the schools: the
Moroccan and Turks immigrated to the Netherlands as (unskilled) guest workers, while many
of the Surinamese already had received an education in Surinam and immigrated in order to
pursue higher education in the Netherlands. The bottom line of the table shows that the total
number of pupils attending a Hindu (or Islamic) school is very small indeed.
Characteristics of Hindu schools
As we have already mentioned, the vast majority of children who attend Dutch Hindu school
have a Surinamese background, and many also have parents with lower SES. Nevertheless,
Dutch Hindus appear not only to perform, on average, better than other minority groups in
schools (Van Niekerk, 2004), they also appear to integrate at a faster rate than other non-
Western immigrant groups. Partly this is because of shared characteristics with Dutch society,
but also social aspirations among Dutch Hindus are consistently high, and in general their
orientation is towards the mainstream culture. Dutch Hindus hold that one has to adapt to the
country where one lives, actively participate in its social and political life, and abide by the
laws of the country. Hindu schools prepare their pupils to live in a multicultural society by
instilling discipline, tolerance and mutual respect, especially toward adults. These are
reinforced by explicit staff expectations and parental support of the school mission. Role-
modeling proper attitudes and dispositions reinforce a school ethos of peace and respect.
The ethos of a Dutch Hindu school is further structured in the following ways: time
for meditation is a part of daily school life; images of Hindu gods adorn classrooms and
hallways; texts from scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, or epic poetic
texts from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, can be publicly seen; Indian dance and
music may also fill up as much as two hours of school time per week; finally, though major
Christian holidays are also celebrated, Hindu festivals such as Diwali and Phagwa (Holi) are
community-wide festivities which attract a lot of public attention and participation.
Hindus believe they have a duty both to themselves and to the community in which
they find themselves. Both obligations comprise their educational and spiritual vision. The
child is part of the class community and learns to function as part of this community.
Therefore whole-class instruction is an important feature of Hindu schools. At the same time
Hindu schools try to cultivate each child’s development by attending to individual needs.
School is thus preparation for membership and participation in society and the Hindu school
endeavors to supply each child with the requisite dispositions, knowledge and skills. Though
Hindu schools have a holistic orientation, they are generally more subject matter-oriented
than process-oriented and there is a strong emphasis on discipline and cognitive achievement.
Unlike most Islamic schools, girls and boys take class instruction, but also physical
exercise and swim classes, together. Active parental participation and involvement in the
school life and at home is encouraged. However, this is not always accomplished. Reasons
for this are that Surinamese children disproportionally live in single-parent families (up to
9
60percent) and if this is not the case both parents work. Pupils at Hindu schools follow the
same basic curriculum as pupils at other Dutch schools. This also includes the obligatory
subjects, ‘intercultural education‘ and ‘religious and ideological movements‘ (such as
Christianity, Islam and Judaism). While Hindu schools use the same textbooks as other
schools, there is considerable flexibility in how the school meets its learning goals and
attainment targets.
Teachers aim to develop a Hindu worldview and identity by integrating cultural and
religious beliefs into ordinary instruction. This is known as dharma education. Though the
regular subjects are taught, the Hindu school also offers Hindi instruction for one to two
hours per week, but in all subjects instruction is given in Dutch. Hindu schools strive to
foster unity among the staff and pupils through shared mantras, prayer (at the start and end of
the school day), and a vegetarian diet (though not all families are vegetarian). Yet far more
than Hinduism, what children in a Dutch Hindu school mainly share in common is their
Surinamese cultural background. Because most teachers have a Surinamese-Hindu
background, staff and pupils share a similar ancestral history and experience, which
strenghtens the relationship between teachers and pupils and overall internal school cohesion.
This can also be seen in the school didactics, i.e., the fact that more individual attention is
given to the cultural needs of pupils (Bloemberg & Nijhuis, 1993; Roelsma-Somer, 2008).
Quality and Achievement
The Dutch Inspectorate of Education visits schools on a regular basis and checks to see
whether they are meeting the required instruction standards on a number of quality criteria.9
These criteria are elaborated in a framework that focuses on the structure of the learning
process with the following elements: educational content; learning/teaching time; educational
climate; school climate; teachings methods; response to individual needs; active and
independent learning; results and development of pupils.
The findings of the Inspectorate’s most recent reports for the years 2005 and 2006 are
summarized in Table 2 (see Inspectie van het Onderwijs, 2009).
9
As of 2007 the Inspectorate only visits schools when there are (indications of) problems.
10
Table 2 – Results quality evaluation reports Inspectorate of Education for 2005 and 2006
School Contribution to educational quality 2005 and 2006 Achievement test
results
Not/hardly Insufficiently Sufficiently Strongly N.a. Aspects
Shri Saraswatie 0 3 25 4 1 33 at or above level
comparable
schools
Shri Krishna1
0 5 2 0 4 11 N/A
Shri Laksmi 0 6 20 3 2 31 at or above level
comparable
schools
Shri Vishnu 0 10 22 4 1 37 at or above level
comparable
schools
Algemene
Hindoeschool2
at or above level
comparable
schools
Notes: 1. At the time of the Inspectorate’s visit this school was operational for just one year; 2. This report only
focused on the schools’ achievements.
This table shows that on most aspects Hindu schools score ‘sufficiently’ or ‘strongly’.
Importantly, with regard to the schools’ output as measured by standardized achievement
tests, all schools score at least equal to, but often above, the level of other schools with a
comparable socio-ethnic pupil population. For the first four schools in Table 2 information
is available concerning the situation in 2008. The Inspectorate’s conclusion is that since 2005
or 2006 the situation at these four schools has improved to such a degree that there are no
worries regarding the schools’ quality and there thus is no need for further inquiry.
A Closer Look at Hindu Schools
Introduction
Hindu schools are founded and predicated upon many of the same principles invoked by
other religious minority groups in the Netherlands, including Muslims, Jews and
Evangelicals. That is, its defenders argue that a Hindu education, one that takes account of
the relevant shared cultural and religious values and backgrounds of the pupils, including
child rearing practices in the family, enhances the learning process. Additionally, Dutch
Hindu schools recognize that instructional design, strong leadership and school organization
that builds upon these shared features is the key difference between a school with a high
concentration of minorities and one that has turned cultural homogeneity to its advantage.
Hindu schools represent a form of emancipation. They are emancipatory for reasons
both external and internal to the educative process. Some of the external reasons have to do
with colonial and post-colonial practices and identities; cultural and religious minority
stigmatization in a secularized society; experiences with prejudice and racism; the rhetoric of
integration that permeates government speak; and finally, the tremendous pressures attending
the model-minority stereotype, viz., internal and external expectations to out-perform other,
less favourably evaluated, minorities and to show oneself more “integrated”.
11
Yet reasons internal to the educative process may also be cited, including higher rates
of personal well-being and improved academic performance that derive from culturally-
integrated learning strategies. Indeed, Hindu schools are sites where faith but perhaps
especially cultural background, can easily be incorporated into the instructional design owing
to the core mission of the school. Like other community-based schools, Hindu schools
provide a caring ethos, high expectations, a culturally-relevant curriculum, and a core set of
shared values. More than the curriculum itself, a Hindu school’s daily rituals, routines and
practices, role-modeling and leadership, relational bonds and trust, and strong community
support, all contribute to a unique learning experience in which the Hindu child is placed at
the center of instruction.
In what follows we examine a number of teachings and practices found in Dutch
Hindu schools and assess them both for their ability to forge a distinctive identity, one
conducive to emancipation and thus their ability to prepare children for integration by other
means. We then consider whether there may be challenges awaiting Dutch Hindu schools in
the coming years.
Hindu Schooling and Identity
Like any major world religion, Hinduism is vastly complex, includes numerous subdivisions
and incongruous teachings, and cannot easily be reduced to a simple core of beliefs or
practices. Though it contains important canonical texts, none of them is accepted as
authoritative by all Hindus. Further, while Hinduism comprises many doctrines, unlike other
religions for which right belief (orthodoxy) is paramount, Hinduism is chiefly a religion of
customs, habits and practices largely informed by one’s cultural roots in India. As Indians
continue to migrate throughout the world, reflecting many of the social class differences in
Indian society, those cultural and religious roots evolve and are transformed by the new
environments in which persons of Indian ancestry find themselves. In many cases, religious
identity is renewed, re-discovered, or re-invented in a land of immigration.
The renewal of a religious identity in a new land is nothing new. For immigrants,
religious organizations become the primary means by which ethnic identities are nourished
and grow. Minority groups are also confronted with the experience of being a minority, and a
visible minority at that, which causes many to search for their roots As Prema Kurien (2001,
p. 265) writes,
..religion and religious organizations increase in salience for immigrants because of
the disruption and disorientation caused by the immigration experience and because
religious organizations become the means to form ethnic communities and identities
in the immigrant context.
It is of course true that determining what a Hindu identity entails in the Dutch environment is
not entirely clear. On a straightforward reading of Hindu school literature, and in speaking
with school personnel, Hindu identity is defined and described as one who recognizes as
one’s own the loosely assembled beliefs and practices to which Hindu schools subscribe.
12
Yet as we have argued, a majority of children and staff in Hindu schools share more
in common by virtue of a shared Surinamese cultural background, and with this shared
background the Dutch language provides additional cohesive support. Within the existing
constitutional framework in the Netherlands, Hinduism – as a religious worldview – becomes
the convenient artifice for binding these items together. Even in the absence of constitutional
provisions, religion frequently mediates cultural bonding among expatriates. Kurien
explains, “[in] immigrant contexts, religion becomes the means of creating ethnic
communities and identities and so the attachment to religion and religious institutions is
intensified” (ibid, p. 289).
As we have seen, Hindu schools also map onto the Dutch model which facilitates
religion-based schools but not, strictly speaking, culturally-based ones. To illustrate the
centrality of cultural cohesion in Hindu schools, there is an awareness in the Dutch Hindu
community that those of Surinamese descent and Hindus who immigrate directly from India
share very little in common; despite a shared religion, interactions between the two groups
are in fact quite limited. Further, besides the probable differences in shared culture and
language, Hindus who immigrate directly from India are more likely to be influenced by
caste thinking10
than their Surinamese counterparts, and India continues to be a far more
patriarchal society than either Surinam or the Netherlands.
So while there is no doubt that Hindu schools aim to foster a shared Hindu ethos,
through the propagation and repetition of basic beliefs and practices, celebrations of religious
festivals, participation in silent meditation, and a vegetarian diet, the emphasis is largely
culturally based, and thus the actual Hindu-ness of what Hindu schools do may not run very
deep. All children and school staff participate in the shared activities, tolerance toward other
beliefs and traditions is strongly encouraged, and mutual respect toward one another in school
is certainly expected. Yet except perhaps for the singular interpretation these things are
given, tolerance and mutual respect are hardly the exclusive domain of Hindu schools.
Indeed, these virtues are promoted and found in most schools, and in the Netherlands they are
incorporated within the aims of compulsory citizenship instruction. What Hindu school staff
say in response to this is that while other schools claim to promote them, they fail to deliver.
Yet as an empirical matter, this hypothesis is difficult to assess.
Hindu Schools and Emancipation
As we have shown, the Dutch constitutional freedom of education resulted from a struggle
over equal treatment, specifically for equal financial support for both denominational and
non-denominational or public schools. This struggle was not restricted to education, but was
rather part of a general emancipatory process of social and religious groups in the
Netherlands that penetrated all aspects of Dutch society. An important consequence of this
10
The majority of Dutch Hindus follow the Sanatan Dharm, a spiritual form of Hinduism influenced by the
Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and which emphasizes equality, while a minority follow the more recently
formed Karma Veda, whose founder, Swami Dayanand, aimed to ground Hinduism in its so-called original
sources, the Vedas, and among its beliefs there is the requirement that only those from the Brahman caste are
able to become priests.
13
has been the maintenance of a delicate balance between the autonomy of the different social
and religious groups on the one hand, and the integration of these groups within the
encompassing framework of the nation-state on the other (cf. Spiecker & Steutel, 2001).
Today, despite steady secularization, religious schools continue to be defended as an
important avenue of emancipation. Proponents of Hindu schools appeal to the role separate
schools have played in the historical emancipation of, for example, Dutch Catholics
(Teunissen, 1990).
Yet opponents of separate schools, and perhaps especially of Islamic and Hindu
schools, argue that voluntary separation will only aggravate segregation within the education
system and lead to permanent societal isolation. Further, separate Hindu schools will not
succeed in providing quality education, in part because of the concentration of low SES
pupils, and therefore they will be associated with school failure and cultural separatism. The
ethnic separation within the education system will coincide with ethnic separation within
other societal institutions which will result in ethnic enclaves or even ghettos (Teunissen,
1990). One hears in these concerns a worry that segregated schools of any sort are simply bad
policy, bad for the Dutch majority but especially so for ethnic minorities. Correspondingly,
integrated schools, or schools with a racial/ethnic “balance” (though usually with a native
Dutch majority) promise better educational and experiential outcomes for children, but also
better outcomes for society because integrated schools are believed to strengthen social
cohesion in the public sphere (cf. Merry & New, 2008).
Though commonly voiced, this criticism contains a number of question-begging
assumptions. First, it is assumed that segregation is a situation created by minorities
themselves. While minority groups certainly exhibit preferences for living close to one
another, the same of course can be said of majority groups for reasons having to do with
social class affinity, access to specific resources, or shared cultural and religious background.
Separation is of course also determined by forces outside the control of individuals
themselves, including affordable rents or white flight, which in the Netherlands has resulted
in rather obvious segregation in both neighborhoods and schools in several cities (cf. Karsten,
Felix, Ledoux, Meijnen, Roeleveld & Van Schooten, 2006; Musterd & Ostendorf 2009).11
But the criticism also assumes, without evidence, that an integrated school is better –
both in terms of quality as well as in terms of preparing children to live together – than one
that is (voluntarily) separate. Here the logic of integration, hinted at above, assumes that
mixed schools per se yield better outcomes in academic performance and individual well-
being than more homogeneous schools, and also that mixed schools provide the blueprint for
how society ought to be organized. In most Western societies, including the Netherlands, it
continues to be assumed by liberal elites that simply mixing schools will yield positive
outcomes. Thus educational policy, whose aim it is to maintain racial/ethnic balance – for
11
It should be noted that the integrated v. segregated school discussion presently underway in the Netherlands
for the most part is a hypothetical discussion. The situation is such that most Hindu parents wishing their child
to attend another school in their district would likely have as their only choice a school with a high
concentration of poor minorities, where the chances of meeting middle class white pupils are very small indeed.
14
example recent restrictions on parental choice in the Dutch city of Nijmegen12
– is often
predicated on the belief that by mixing pupils of different backgrounds the performance of
the disadvantaged pupils will go up and the performance of the advantaged pupils will mostly
be unaffected.
Yet while a concentration of socio-economically disadvantaged pupils in one school
building certainly increases the challenges both to teachers and pupils, too frequently the
remedies offered are rather simplistic. As for the academic outcomes, a recent review into
this so-called school-mix effect does not support this hypothesis (Driessen, 2007), while on
the level of societal outcomes, the “benefits” continue to be postulated rather than
demonstrated (see Blokland & van Eijk 2010). This is not to say that integrated schools are a
bad idea, or that real benefits will not accrue to – particularly disadvantaged – pupils from
different backgrounds who interact with one another. Even so, more thinking needs to be
done beyond simply mixing schools. While a mixed pupil body is doubtless one variable
worth taking into consideration,13
other important features are surely equally important: (1)
teacher quality and retention; (2) committed school leadership; (3) parental educational level
and involvement; (4) shared community values; (5) role-modeling of school staff; and (6) the
cultural relevance of learning material.
For proponents of Hindu schools, like proponents of any form of voluntary separation,
what they do is not “segregationist.” For starters, the reasons for separation are to reinforce
the potentially fragile identities of children from immigrant families who are more likely to
experience bullying or harassment, discrimination or exclusion, but also ambivalence toward
a culture with which they may not identify (Merry & New, 2008; Villalpando 2003). There is
much evidence to suggest that this is often the case for “visible minorities” in the
Netherlands, including children of Surinamese background (Van Niekerk, 2004, 2007).
Hindu schools, then, assist children in being proud of their cultural background and also to
become “good” Hindus. Securing a stronger identity can enable pupils to defend themselves
against ignorance and prejudice, both as individuals and as a group.
Defining what it means to be a member of the Dutch Hindu community on one’s own
terms improves the chances of escaping imposed stereotypes offered up by the media and a
school system that otherwise does not address cultural difference except in the most
superficial way. Proponents of Hindu schools see that one of the best ways to do this is to
explicitly address the minority position of Hindu children relative to the broader Dutch
context. Separate schooling as a provisional measure can thus contribute to a child’s self-
esteem and autonomy, but also to an inward sense of belonging to one’s cultural group and
also outward toward Dutch society (cf. Merry, 2005). Thus, as the title to our chapter
suggests, integration by other means engages in double entendre, for it signals different and
12
The new measures were implemented in April 2009; similar initiatives are currently underway in other Dutch
cities.
13
Unsurprisingly, all-White schools (and neighborhoods) are generally seen as “normal”, while predominately
non-White schools and neighborhoods are perceived as “segregated” (cf. Bonilla-Silva, 2003). As for mixed
schools, there continue to be problems with homogeneous classrooms. There also is plenty of evidence that
children normally self-select who they will interact with based on shared interests and preferences (cf. Moody
2001; Tatum, 1997).
15
possibly conflicting ways of being “integrated”: (a) being integrated with oneself and one’s
“own” community, and (b) integration into the broader society. Both forms of integration,
however, involve expectations internal to their specific processes that may serve to alienate
rather than emancipate. These include essentialisms of Hinduism but also expressions of
tokenism by the majority population.
Conclusions
In this chapter, we have demonstrated how Hindu schools, within the Dutch context, operate
as an important form of cultural and religious mediation for children who otherwise may face
higher risks of school failure. Like other community-based forms of education, Hindu schools
contribute to emancipation by attending to the religious and cultural identities of children of
Surinamese background so that, (seemingly) paradoxically, they can more effectively
integrate into the mainstream society. Hindu schools therefore purport themselves to be an
avenue of integration by other means.
Even so, we have also shown that despite the challenges Dutch Hindus have faced,
they continue to be a rather successful minority relative to other minority groups. This can be
explained in terms of a tight community structure, fluency in the Dutch language, high social
aspirations, and a generally favorable position relative to other immigrant groups, some of
whom struggle under more intense pressures to integrate.
Yet despite the many positive features of Hindu schools that we have elaborated, there
are a few challenges that may arise in the coming years. The first is whether Hindu schools,
and the Hindu community at large, will be influenced by – and exploit – the prevailing anti-
Islamic ethos, casting themselves as the “model minority”, the tolerant, peaceful alternative
to Islam. This will prove a very difficult temptation to resist, particularly when Dutch
Islamic schools continue to be viewed as undesirable, and prominent voices in Dutch politics
openly rail against the prevalence of Muslim minorities in Dutch cities.
Related to this, and already beginning to manifest, is the creeping influence of Hindu
nationalist politics from India onto those in the diaspora. Contrary to the manner in which
Dutch Hindus portray themselves as peace-loving and tolerant, the Hindutva movement in
India is a highly intolerant strain of religious fascism that for decades has grown in size and
political power. Indeed, it has already shown itself capable of extending its influence abroad
(see Kundu 1994; Zavos 2009).14
The comparative juxtaposition of Hinduism and Islam,
with Hinduism being seen as the preferable of the two, has the potential to aggravate tensions
by making unfair evaluations between two decidedly different minority groups with
completely different pre-immigration and post-immigration histories. With this expanding
influence there are reasons to wonder whether the “supremacy” of Hinduism – as the only
legitimate religion of India – will influence the ideas and attitudes of Hindus abroad,
14
One could mention escalating tensions between British Sikhs and Hindus during the late 1980s and early
1990s due to struggles in Punjab, or violent outbursts in Britain following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in
Ayodhya in 1992.
16
especially when political currents in Hinduism cannot be restricted to the Indian subcontinent
(cf. Kurien, 2007; Vertovec 2000).15
Related to these challenges is the need for Hindu schools to take its claims of mutual
respect and emancipation seriously not only by tolerating what others believe and do, but by
critically examining Hinduism’s historical role in establishing fixed castes of people, with
some persons destined to permanently lower positions, and others relegated outside the caste
system altogether, viz., the Dalits. Other topics that could come up for critical discussion
might be various patriarchal customs (e.g., control of temples), or the limited freedom to exit
one’s Hindu culture (cf. Spinner-Halev, 2005). Whatever the case, Hindu schools have the
ability to use religion as a critical resource, one directed against cultural practices that fail to
exhibit either emancipation or mutual respect.
Finally, one very real challenge for Hindu schools is whether they can remain
“authentically” Hindu. Fostering strong Hindu identity in a society where Hinduism is a
strange, exotic (and sometimes fashionable) religion poses special challenges, but so do the
expectations from parents that Hindu schools first deliver on academic excellence, second on
cultural support, and only third on the Hindu faith itself. Unlike Dutch Islamic schools,
which struggle to foster an Islamic ethos owing to a severe shortage of Muslim teachers,
Hindu schools for the moment have strong community support and its staff are
overwhelmingly of Hindu background. Yet like mainstream Christian schools, Hindu
schools may before long have the exact same religious identity crisis if the Hindu faith is only
an ancillary concern for most of its members. Correlated to this, given the high social
aspirations of the Dutch Hindu community, and the manner in which Hindus are generally
seen as model minorities in the Netherlands, the arguments for emancipation of a vulnerable
minority may cease to resonate.
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  • 1. 1 Integration by Other Means: Hindu schooling in the Netherlands Michael S. Merry & Geert Driessen University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands m.s.merry@uva.nl ITS, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands g.driessen@its.ru.nl Paper XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, ‘Bordering, re-bordering and new possibilities in education and society’, Istanbul, Turkey, June 14-18, 2010. Introduction With migratory patterns globally on the rise, the language of integration now reverberates prominently within the industrialized nation states. For decades cultural and ethnic difference were the primary markers of immigrants but increasingly there is now a shift onto religion. The politics of integration entails that ethnic minorities – be they immigrants, asylum seekers, or even indigenous – accept the dominant political and cultural norms of the host society (cf. Vasta, 2007). Yet “integration” is an ideologically loaded concept with many implicit features whose meanings are not entirely evident either to the immigrant or to the native population. Consequently, there is much debate concerning its conditions, indicators and requirements (cf. Berry, 2003). Schools are arguably the most effective means of enacting the aims of integration. In many societies, schools are at least partly designed to be places where children of different backgrounds converge to learn together, and also to learn about, and from, one another.1 Therefore, schools that to the dominant group seem segregated present a serious challenge to the aims of integration. But not all schools with separate pupil populations are alike; some are the legacy of de jure segregation and white flight, but others host relatively homogeneous minority pupil populations by choice. That is, theirs is a form of voluntary separation. This chapter is an exploration into one type of school about which very little has been said, viz., the Hindu school in the Netherlands. These schools consciously promote cultural and religious distinctiveness with the aim of facilitating emancipation and integration by other means. The primary aim of this chapter is to assess how well, and by what means, Hindu schools try to accomplish the aims of integration in a vernacular that is predicated on voluntary separation. Though Hindu schools are open to non-Hindu children, their primary aim is to educate children of like cultural and religious background. And, like other schools whose instructional design is religiously specific, Hindu schools have faith-building, identity formation and emancipation among their central aims. We will explore the specific cultural and religious components that are used to form the identities of children, and how these are 1 Dutch educational policy now departs from the idea that persons live in a multicultural society and that it should be the explicit task of schools to prepare children to function adequately in them (NMEC, 2007).
  • 2. 2 operationalized as emancipatory practices. In particular we will examine how these features are conceptualized, developed and connected to learning, and how Hindu schools concretely prepare pupils to negotiate their place in a society in which they are visible minorities. Further, to the extent possible, we will investigate whether the academic outcomes Hindu schools strive for are bearing fruit. Our study will be based on a review of the available literature, Hindu school websites2 , analyses of general demographic data from Statistics Netherlands and school composition data from the Dutch Ministry of Education, analysis of the yearly school- specific evaluation and monitoring reports from the Dutch Inspectorate of Education, and semi-structured interviews with the administrator of the Hindu School Foundation and the deputy principal of a Hindu school. When compared to research on Muslims in Western societies, or, for that matter, Islamic schools, research carried out on Western Hindus, and certainly Hindu schools, is virtually non-existent. Only a handful of media reports are available, all of them merely announcing the opening of Hindu schools. Indeed, the very first qualitative dissertation ever carried out on Dutch Hindu schools was completed in late 2008 at the University of Tilburg.3 Consequently, gathering and analyzing peer-reviewed data on Hindu schools in the Netherlands, where they fall within the ambit of state-provided education, is for the time being only possible by referring to official reports and by making school visits. Thus given the virtual absence of any studies on Hindu schools, both theoretical and empirical, this chapter aims to fill an important gap. We proceed as follows. First we describe the central features of Hinduism. While the theological and/or philosophical tenets of Hinduism are central to the pedagogy of Dutch Hindu schools, we will explain why religion per se is not the most important contribution to the children who attend them. Next we examine the colonial history of Dutch Hindus and elucidate why Dutch Hindus have managed to integrate into Dutch society at a far quicker pace than some other immigrant groups. We then look into the reasons for the establishment of Hindu schools in the Netherlands, showing how the Dutch system of education facilitates schools of this sort. Next we explore the process of identity formation and how this complements the emancipatory aims of Hindu schools. Finally we will consider a number of challenges that Hindu schools may face in the coming years. Hindu Belief Hindu oral tradition dates back at least to the 8th millennium BCE. It is believed that sacred knowledge was “heard” by rishis (seers) and orally transmitted. These sruti texts, “heard“ by 2 See http://www.shrivishnu.nl/ ; http://www.shriganesha.nl/ ; http://www.shrilaksmi.nl/ ; http://www.shrikrishna.nl/ ; http://www.shrisaraswatie.nl/ ; http://www.vahon.nl/; also see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8709uYIwfE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxnr5ZRKgSo&feature=related. Each of the school‘s websites includes a prospectus with, among other things, information on the school’s founding history, religious-philosophical orientation, educational goals and contents, didactical approach, staff, provisions for special needs pupils, parental participation, and pupil achievement. 3 The thesis defense was attended by the first author.
  • 3. 3 sages during meditation, were eventually canonized and are known today as the Vedas. Hinduism is best described as a henotheistic religion, meaning that it is a plural form of monotheism: a polytheism within a monotheism. Similar to the way Muslims describe the ninety-nine attributes of God, Hinduism’s purported three hundred and thirty million gods are more properly interpreted as manifestations or expressions of the one divine Being, Brahmā. Sometimes Brahmā is described in terms of a Hindu trinity, or trimurti, with Brahmā or Ishvara as Creator Lord, Vishnu as preserver, and Siva as destroyer. Taken together they symbolize the circle or samsara of life. Whatever the case, bhakti or personal devotion to an individual god (e.g., Kali, Sarasvati, Ganesh) is an integral part of ordinary Hindu practice. The basic human condition in Hinduism is suffering, and the root of all suffering is ignorance. Suffering is governed by the laws of karma. What one reaps, one also sows; deeds shape not only the character but also the soul. The wheel of life or sequence of change (samsara) is one that each Hindu hopes to escape. Moving up through a series of reincarnations enables one to gradually attain a level (Brahmin) where one can be released (moksha) from this life. No matter how many reincarnations one has, the self (atman) remains the same; it only assumes different bodies. Detachment from impermanent things, and union (samadhi) with the Absolute is the ultimate spiritual aim. Metaphysically, Hindus accept the impermanence (annica) of things. Attachment to impermanent things is seen as a key obstacle to enlightenment in Hinduism. What persons perceive is ultimately maya or illusion owing to the sentiments, memories and personal projections we cast onto impermanent things. Because we rely upon our sense perceptions, there is something real about what we encounter, but in their essence, there is only maya. Attachment is due to ignorance (avidya), which misperceives what is Real. The foregoing represent rather high-minded ideals which do not occupy the thoughts of ordinary Hindus. However, most Hindus do endeavour to model their lives upon the principles of Hindū dharma, which refers to the ethical way of life and thought. A broad term, dharma encompasses customs, duties, social welfare, ethics and health. All devout Hindus espouse ahimsa or non-violence, and they apply this concept to both humans and non-humans alike.4 The vast majority of Hindus also believe that tolerance of religious difference is essential. Wisdom distilled from the Upanishads suggests that every person carries a spark of the divine, that the human race is an extended family, and that the truth is one, though the wise call it by many names. Unlike Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in Hinduism generally there is far less emphasis on doctrinal purity or scriptural authority. Hinduism easily incorporates features from other religions (notably from those which have formally split from Hinduism such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism) and thus except for fairly recent politicized movements in India, very few if any exclusivist theological claims are made. 4 That said, every five years there is a major Hindu festival in Bariyapur, Nepal, during which more than 200,000 animals are slaughtered en masse to honor the goddess Gadhimai. The 2009 festival was predictably met with protests from animal rights activists as well as many prominent Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. See Bhanot, 2009.
  • 4. 4 Dutch Hindus By far most Dutch Hindus originate from Surinam, which was a Dutch plantation colony from 1667 until 1953. In 1975 it became an independent republic. In the intermediary period it was granted a system of limited self-government. Between 1873 and 1916, approximately 35,000 indentured labourers were brought to Surinam from the British Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by Dutch colonial interests in order to replace recently freed African slaves. Paid labour was scarcely better than slavery itself. Most Indian migrants had backgrounds in farming and migrated to Surinam due to severe drought and famine in India. 80 percent of the Indian arrivals were Hindu. Upon their arrival, they found themselves vulnerable both to prejudice from other groups, whether indigenous or those with African or mixed European-African ancestry (Creole), whose social position was often worse. Unlike in neighbouring Guyana, a British colony, Dutch efforts to convert Hindus was not the norm. Instead, similar to the way they organized their own society in the Netherlands, the colonizers separated the various groups in Surinam, a pattern which still holds. Different religious and ethnic groups generally occupy different areas and villages in a pattern of relatively peaceful co-existence (Vertovec 1995). During the indentured labour period, Hinduism in Surinam underwent major changes in orientation, redefining itself in its new environment. Eventually the caste system, a central feature of vaishnavite Hinduism in northeastern India, was abolished, a process brought to completion with the arrival of the anti-Brahmin and more strictly monotheistic arya sarnaj movement. Moreover, unlike neighbouring British colonies, where efforts to Anglicize the Indian population were part of a protracted assimilationist campaign, the use of Hindi – the official language of India – continues to be used in formal situations and for religious purposes (Koefoed & Jadoenandansing, 1993). It was estimated that in 2009 Surinam had 482,000 inhabitants, of whom 37 percent are of Indian descent, and approximately 27 percent of whom adhere to Hinduism (CIA, 2009).5 In the immigration process to the Netherlands, various waves can be discerned. First came the Surinamese elite for higher education. In the 1960s, other groups followed their example. It was not until the 1970s, and especially upon receiving independence from the Netherlands in 1975 that large numbers of poorer Surinamese, particularly from the ethnic minority Chinese, Javanese and Indian groups, re-settled in the Netherlands for political reasons and to seek out better economic opportunities. After 1980, immigration continued for reasons of family reunification and formation. The arrival of non-white immigrants, concentrated mainly in the larger western urban centers, resulted in discrimination, particularly for black Surinamese, both in the housing and labour markets (Bovenkerk, 1978; Van Amersfoort & Van Niekerk, 2006). Of the approximately 225,000- 300,000 persons of Indian descent living in the Netherlands today, 85percent have immigrated from Surinam. In 2004 there were 99,000 Hindus in the Netherlands, of which 83,000 originated from Surinam, and 11,000 from India 5 About 1 percent of Surinamese of Indian descent are Christians and 20 percent are Muslims (Koefoed & Jadoenandansing, 1991).
  • 5. 5 (CBS, 2009). Whereas a significant percentage of Surinamese Hindus once retained dual citizenship, owing to changes in Dutch immigration policy in the mid 1990s, many have opted exclusively for Dutch citizenship, though they retain to the right to return to Surinam if they wish. Today the largest concentrations of Surinamese can be found in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Almere. Notwithstanding the earlier setbacks, Surinamese immigrants have managed to integrate in the Netherlands in spite of their visible minority status. While the socio- economic position of Afro-Surinamese and Indo-Surinamese relative to Dutch society was nearly the same in the first fifteen to twenty years, different patterns of social mobility emerged with the latter eventually making faster progress (Van Niekerk, 2004). Command of the Dutch language, high rates of intermarriage with native Dutch, and an historical relationship with the Netherlands have eased their transition relative to other groups. Other evidence suggests that the hierarchally-organized and community-oriented Indian community, together with a strong social cohesion and control, an entrepreneurial work ethic and high social aspirations, all combine to explain the rapid integrative advancement of Dutch Hindus.6 In addition to support for the Surinamese community, Hindus also enjoy government sponsored weekly television and radio programming, organized and run by Hindus, which focuses on issues affecting the Hindu community in the Netherlands and abroad. Today, Dutch Hindus are cast as model minorities, certainly when compared to the largest immigrant groups in the Netherlands, the Moroccans and Turks (cf. Dagevos & Gijsberts, 2007). Dutch Hindu Schools Freedom of education Since the revision of its constitution in 1917, the Netherlands has guaranteed educational freedoms, together with full support for funding, to establish special (bijzondere) schools with religious or didactic aims and methods. Article 23 of the Dutch constitution was the result of a hard-fought-over school struggle (schoolstrijd) for public recognition and funding between Protestants and Catholics on the one hand, and secular Liberals on the other. This struggle can be seen as part of an emancipation process of the indigenous Dutch religious social groups. Many ‘special’ schools (e.g., Jenaplan, Steiner, Montessori) are very popular, especially among well-educated, white parents; others, which represent religious denominational differences, also remain popular, and in fact continue to educate a majority of Dutch children. This remains something of a paradox in the Netherlands: while secularization has steadily progressed in all societal sectors since the 1960s, the number of religious schools has remained constant with a market share of 67 percent (Driessen & Merry, 2006). At this moment, 33 percent of all primary schools are public schools, 30 6 Scholars have used a situational analysis to better understand the dynamics between the reception in the receiving society, the design of government policies which aim to assist immigrant groups, the labor market conditions, and the social composition of the ethnic community (cf. Vermeulen, 2000).
  • 6. 6 percent are Catholic, 26 percent are Protestant, and the rest are schools of smaller denominations including branches of orthodox Protestant, Islamic, Jewish and Hindu schools. Notwithstanding their specific denomination, all schools promote, to one degree or another, shared beliefs, values, habits and interactions among school and community members. The founding of Hindu schools While the Dutch state has played a facilitative role in fostering educational pluralism, not all religious schools have been welcomed with open arms. For example, in their twenty year history, Islamic schools have struggled under an image problem; during periods of political crisis (e.g., following 9/11 or the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004) public sentiment briefly turned against the Muslim minority and a number of Islamic schools were vandalized (Buijs 2009). In addition, it has become clear that in terms of their pupils’ achievements the 43 Islamic schools that are in existence now have not succeeded in living up to their expectations. Recent scandals involving fiscal mismanagement by the schools’ boards have only worsened their reputation (Driessen, 2008; Merry & Driessen, 2009). Like Islamic schools, Hindu schools cater mostly to a cultural and religious minority, but more importantly to a higher then average percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged children.7 Further, like Islamic schools, Hindu schools represent a form of voluntary separation, one that appears to conflict with the rhetoric of integration. Yet in contrast to Islamic schools, Hindu schools are fewer in number, manage to produce better than average academic results, have not been subject to scandal, have received very little media attention, and recent school openings have been welcomed by the Ministry of Education. Presently there are six Hindu primary schools in the Netherlands. They are located in Den Haag (2), Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Almere. The first Hindu primary school was founded in 1988 (at the same time as the first Islamic school), the sixth and most recent opened its doors in 2008. (There are now plans to establish a Hindu secondary school.) That it took so long before the first school was established is a bit surprising considering that the Dutch pillarized school system, based on the principle of freedom of education, offers any denomination the same opportunity to establish its own schools. The reasons for the long delay may have been simply a shortage of pioneers and educational expertise among Surinamese immigrants; further, for a long time there has been a trust in the quality of Dutch education; finally there are important differences in orientation between first and second generation immigrants (Van Ammersfort & van Niekerk 2006; Van Niekerk 2000). Motives for establishing Hindu schools vary, but they include concern for the academic reputation, a desire that one’s children become acquainted with the cultural background of the parents, and the hope that they will play a positive role in the integration process of Hindu youngsters (Bloemberg & Nijhuis, 1993; Roelsma-Somer, 2008; Teunissen, 1990). Because Hindu schools follow the constitutional guarantees which permit schools to 7 The percentage of children from low-educated families varies from one school to another. In Amsterdam the figure is 53 percent, in Rotterdam 50 percent, Utrecht 53 percent, Den Haag 47 percent, and Almere 38 percent.
  • 7. 7 be founded on the basis of a worldview or philosophy, each of these is fully funded by the Dutch state. While they are free to favour Hindu teachers and principals, all schools are expected to follow the attainment targets in terms of teaching matter set by the Ministry of Education. Most of the pupils in Hindu schools of course have a Hindu background, but in at least one Hindu school, owing to its diverse neighborhood characteristics and strong academic reputation, more than 25 percent of the children are either Muslim or Christian. Perhaps also surprising is that this school has a number of Muslim teachers. To understand the position of Hindu schools in a broader perspective, i.e. the Dutch denominational school landscape, a comparison was made between a number of demographic background characteristics of Hindu schools, Islamic schools, Catholic schools, Protestant schools, public schools and the average Dutch primary school. This analysis was based on national population data concerning the 2008-2009 school year. In that year there were 6891 primary schools of which 32.9 percent was public, 30.1 percent Catholic, and 26.2 percent Protestant Christian; the rest represented a number of small denominations. There were 6 Hindu schools (or 0.1%) and 41 Islamic schools (or 0.6%). All of the Hindu schools are situated in the large cities in the western part of the Netherlands, while most Islamic schools are located in the large cities in the western and southern part . Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the different school denominations : the number of pupils (i.e. school size); the percentage of ethnic minorities (at least one of the pupil’s parents was born in a Mediterranean country or a non-English speaking country outside of Europe or is a refugee); the percentage of disadvantaged pupils (i.e. their parents are low-educated and/or perform manual labor or are without a job and/or are from ethnic minorities8 ); and the percentages of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean pupils, respectively. Table 1 - Demographic characteristics of various categories of denominational schools and the average Dutch primary school (school year 2008-2009; means per school) Public Catholic Protestant Hindu Islamic Average Number of pupils 210 255 211 276 228 225 % Ethnic minorities 14.5 9.8 8.2 77.0 89.2 11.1 % Disadvantaged 19.6 15.5 14.0 44.5 63.4 16.1 % Turkish 7.0 5.3 5.6 1.4 31.4 6.3 % Moroccan 7.2 6.0 5.9 0.0 43.0 6.8 % Surinamese 3.8 2.6 3.5 71.9 3.1 3.6 % Antillean 2.0 1.5 1.9 1.0 1.1 1.8 Total number of schools 2264 2075 1806 6 41 6891 Total number of pupils 474,643 529,329 380,278 1,654 9,331 1,552,894 There are a number of striking differences between the various denominational types of schools. For starters, Hindu schools are the largest schools. Although both Hindu schools and Islamic schools are known as so-called black schools, Hindu schools cater to far fewer 8 These indicators stem from the Educational Priority Policy where they were used to award schools with (many) disadvantaged pupils extra facilities (cf. Driessen & Dekkers, 2008). Recently this classification system has been changed in such a way that only the parents’ education level has remained a relevant indicator.
  • 8. 8 ethnic minority and disadvantaged pupils (77 v. 89% and 45 v. 63% respectively). The latter probably has to do with the fact that Surinamese Hindus in general are better educated and in paid jobs than Turks and Moroccans. In addition, in the case of Hindu schools the main country of origin by far is Surinam, while for the Islamic schools this is (either) Morocco or Turkey. This also explains the differences in mean disadvantaged status of the schools: the Moroccan and Turks immigrated to the Netherlands as (unskilled) guest workers, while many of the Surinamese already had received an education in Surinam and immigrated in order to pursue higher education in the Netherlands. The bottom line of the table shows that the total number of pupils attending a Hindu (or Islamic) school is very small indeed. Characteristics of Hindu schools As we have already mentioned, the vast majority of children who attend Dutch Hindu school have a Surinamese background, and many also have parents with lower SES. Nevertheless, Dutch Hindus appear not only to perform, on average, better than other minority groups in schools (Van Niekerk, 2004), they also appear to integrate at a faster rate than other non- Western immigrant groups. Partly this is because of shared characteristics with Dutch society, but also social aspirations among Dutch Hindus are consistently high, and in general their orientation is towards the mainstream culture. Dutch Hindus hold that one has to adapt to the country where one lives, actively participate in its social and political life, and abide by the laws of the country. Hindu schools prepare their pupils to live in a multicultural society by instilling discipline, tolerance and mutual respect, especially toward adults. These are reinforced by explicit staff expectations and parental support of the school mission. Role- modeling proper attitudes and dispositions reinforce a school ethos of peace and respect. The ethos of a Dutch Hindu school is further structured in the following ways: time for meditation is a part of daily school life; images of Hindu gods adorn classrooms and hallways; texts from scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, or epic poetic texts from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, can be publicly seen; Indian dance and music may also fill up as much as two hours of school time per week; finally, though major Christian holidays are also celebrated, Hindu festivals such as Diwali and Phagwa (Holi) are community-wide festivities which attract a lot of public attention and participation. Hindus believe they have a duty both to themselves and to the community in which they find themselves. Both obligations comprise their educational and spiritual vision. The child is part of the class community and learns to function as part of this community. Therefore whole-class instruction is an important feature of Hindu schools. At the same time Hindu schools try to cultivate each child’s development by attending to individual needs. School is thus preparation for membership and participation in society and the Hindu school endeavors to supply each child with the requisite dispositions, knowledge and skills. Though Hindu schools have a holistic orientation, they are generally more subject matter-oriented than process-oriented and there is a strong emphasis on discipline and cognitive achievement. Unlike most Islamic schools, girls and boys take class instruction, but also physical exercise and swim classes, together. Active parental participation and involvement in the school life and at home is encouraged. However, this is not always accomplished. Reasons for this are that Surinamese children disproportionally live in single-parent families (up to
  • 9. 9 60percent) and if this is not the case both parents work. Pupils at Hindu schools follow the same basic curriculum as pupils at other Dutch schools. This also includes the obligatory subjects, ‘intercultural education‘ and ‘religious and ideological movements‘ (such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism). While Hindu schools use the same textbooks as other schools, there is considerable flexibility in how the school meets its learning goals and attainment targets. Teachers aim to develop a Hindu worldview and identity by integrating cultural and religious beliefs into ordinary instruction. This is known as dharma education. Though the regular subjects are taught, the Hindu school also offers Hindi instruction for one to two hours per week, but in all subjects instruction is given in Dutch. Hindu schools strive to foster unity among the staff and pupils through shared mantras, prayer (at the start and end of the school day), and a vegetarian diet (though not all families are vegetarian). Yet far more than Hinduism, what children in a Dutch Hindu school mainly share in common is their Surinamese cultural background. Because most teachers have a Surinamese-Hindu background, staff and pupils share a similar ancestral history and experience, which strenghtens the relationship between teachers and pupils and overall internal school cohesion. This can also be seen in the school didactics, i.e., the fact that more individual attention is given to the cultural needs of pupils (Bloemberg & Nijhuis, 1993; Roelsma-Somer, 2008). Quality and Achievement The Dutch Inspectorate of Education visits schools on a regular basis and checks to see whether they are meeting the required instruction standards on a number of quality criteria.9 These criteria are elaborated in a framework that focuses on the structure of the learning process with the following elements: educational content; learning/teaching time; educational climate; school climate; teachings methods; response to individual needs; active and independent learning; results and development of pupils. The findings of the Inspectorate’s most recent reports for the years 2005 and 2006 are summarized in Table 2 (see Inspectie van het Onderwijs, 2009). 9 As of 2007 the Inspectorate only visits schools when there are (indications of) problems.
  • 10. 10 Table 2 – Results quality evaluation reports Inspectorate of Education for 2005 and 2006 School Contribution to educational quality 2005 and 2006 Achievement test results Not/hardly Insufficiently Sufficiently Strongly N.a. Aspects Shri Saraswatie 0 3 25 4 1 33 at or above level comparable schools Shri Krishna1 0 5 2 0 4 11 N/A Shri Laksmi 0 6 20 3 2 31 at or above level comparable schools Shri Vishnu 0 10 22 4 1 37 at or above level comparable schools Algemene Hindoeschool2 at or above level comparable schools Notes: 1. At the time of the Inspectorate’s visit this school was operational for just one year; 2. This report only focused on the schools’ achievements. This table shows that on most aspects Hindu schools score ‘sufficiently’ or ‘strongly’. Importantly, with regard to the schools’ output as measured by standardized achievement tests, all schools score at least equal to, but often above, the level of other schools with a comparable socio-ethnic pupil population. For the first four schools in Table 2 information is available concerning the situation in 2008. The Inspectorate’s conclusion is that since 2005 or 2006 the situation at these four schools has improved to such a degree that there are no worries regarding the schools’ quality and there thus is no need for further inquiry. A Closer Look at Hindu Schools Introduction Hindu schools are founded and predicated upon many of the same principles invoked by other religious minority groups in the Netherlands, including Muslims, Jews and Evangelicals. That is, its defenders argue that a Hindu education, one that takes account of the relevant shared cultural and religious values and backgrounds of the pupils, including child rearing practices in the family, enhances the learning process. Additionally, Dutch Hindu schools recognize that instructional design, strong leadership and school organization that builds upon these shared features is the key difference between a school with a high concentration of minorities and one that has turned cultural homogeneity to its advantage. Hindu schools represent a form of emancipation. They are emancipatory for reasons both external and internal to the educative process. Some of the external reasons have to do with colonial and post-colonial practices and identities; cultural and religious minority stigmatization in a secularized society; experiences with prejudice and racism; the rhetoric of integration that permeates government speak; and finally, the tremendous pressures attending the model-minority stereotype, viz., internal and external expectations to out-perform other, less favourably evaluated, minorities and to show oneself more “integrated”.
  • 11. 11 Yet reasons internal to the educative process may also be cited, including higher rates of personal well-being and improved academic performance that derive from culturally- integrated learning strategies. Indeed, Hindu schools are sites where faith but perhaps especially cultural background, can easily be incorporated into the instructional design owing to the core mission of the school. Like other community-based schools, Hindu schools provide a caring ethos, high expectations, a culturally-relevant curriculum, and a core set of shared values. More than the curriculum itself, a Hindu school’s daily rituals, routines and practices, role-modeling and leadership, relational bonds and trust, and strong community support, all contribute to a unique learning experience in which the Hindu child is placed at the center of instruction. In what follows we examine a number of teachings and practices found in Dutch Hindu schools and assess them both for their ability to forge a distinctive identity, one conducive to emancipation and thus their ability to prepare children for integration by other means. We then consider whether there may be challenges awaiting Dutch Hindu schools in the coming years. Hindu Schooling and Identity Like any major world religion, Hinduism is vastly complex, includes numerous subdivisions and incongruous teachings, and cannot easily be reduced to a simple core of beliefs or practices. Though it contains important canonical texts, none of them is accepted as authoritative by all Hindus. Further, while Hinduism comprises many doctrines, unlike other religions for which right belief (orthodoxy) is paramount, Hinduism is chiefly a religion of customs, habits and practices largely informed by one’s cultural roots in India. As Indians continue to migrate throughout the world, reflecting many of the social class differences in Indian society, those cultural and religious roots evolve and are transformed by the new environments in which persons of Indian ancestry find themselves. In many cases, religious identity is renewed, re-discovered, or re-invented in a land of immigration. The renewal of a religious identity in a new land is nothing new. For immigrants, religious organizations become the primary means by which ethnic identities are nourished and grow. Minority groups are also confronted with the experience of being a minority, and a visible minority at that, which causes many to search for their roots As Prema Kurien (2001, p. 265) writes, ..religion and religious organizations increase in salience for immigrants because of the disruption and disorientation caused by the immigration experience and because religious organizations become the means to form ethnic communities and identities in the immigrant context. It is of course true that determining what a Hindu identity entails in the Dutch environment is not entirely clear. On a straightforward reading of Hindu school literature, and in speaking with school personnel, Hindu identity is defined and described as one who recognizes as one’s own the loosely assembled beliefs and practices to which Hindu schools subscribe.
  • 12. 12 Yet as we have argued, a majority of children and staff in Hindu schools share more in common by virtue of a shared Surinamese cultural background, and with this shared background the Dutch language provides additional cohesive support. Within the existing constitutional framework in the Netherlands, Hinduism – as a religious worldview – becomes the convenient artifice for binding these items together. Even in the absence of constitutional provisions, religion frequently mediates cultural bonding among expatriates. Kurien explains, “[in] immigrant contexts, religion becomes the means of creating ethnic communities and identities and so the attachment to religion and religious institutions is intensified” (ibid, p. 289). As we have seen, Hindu schools also map onto the Dutch model which facilitates religion-based schools but not, strictly speaking, culturally-based ones. To illustrate the centrality of cultural cohesion in Hindu schools, there is an awareness in the Dutch Hindu community that those of Surinamese descent and Hindus who immigrate directly from India share very little in common; despite a shared religion, interactions between the two groups are in fact quite limited. Further, besides the probable differences in shared culture and language, Hindus who immigrate directly from India are more likely to be influenced by caste thinking10 than their Surinamese counterparts, and India continues to be a far more patriarchal society than either Surinam or the Netherlands. So while there is no doubt that Hindu schools aim to foster a shared Hindu ethos, through the propagation and repetition of basic beliefs and practices, celebrations of religious festivals, participation in silent meditation, and a vegetarian diet, the emphasis is largely culturally based, and thus the actual Hindu-ness of what Hindu schools do may not run very deep. All children and school staff participate in the shared activities, tolerance toward other beliefs and traditions is strongly encouraged, and mutual respect toward one another in school is certainly expected. Yet except perhaps for the singular interpretation these things are given, tolerance and mutual respect are hardly the exclusive domain of Hindu schools. Indeed, these virtues are promoted and found in most schools, and in the Netherlands they are incorporated within the aims of compulsory citizenship instruction. What Hindu school staff say in response to this is that while other schools claim to promote them, they fail to deliver. Yet as an empirical matter, this hypothesis is difficult to assess. Hindu Schools and Emancipation As we have shown, the Dutch constitutional freedom of education resulted from a struggle over equal treatment, specifically for equal financial support for both denominational and non-denominational or public schools. This struggle was not restricted to education, but was rather part of a general emancipatory process of social and religious groups in the Netherlands that penetrated all aspects of Dutch society. An important consequence of this 10 The majority of Dutch Hindus follow the Sanatan Dharm, a spiritual form of Hinduism influenced by the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and which emphasizes equality, while a minority follow the more recently formed Karma Veda, whose founder, Swami Dayanand, aimed to ground Hinduism in its so-called original sources, the Vedas, and among its beliefs there is the requirement that only those from the Brahman caste are able to become priests.
  • 13. 13 has been the maintenance of a delicate balance between the autonomy of the different social and religious groups on the one hand, and the integration of these groups within the encompassing framework of the nation-state on the other (cf. Spiecker & Steutel, 2001). Today, despite steady secularization, religious schools continue to be defended as an important avenue of emancipation. Proponents of Hindu schools appeal to the role separate schools have played in the historical emancipation of, for example, Dutch Catholics (Teunissen, 1990). Yet opponents of separate schools, and perhaps especially of Islamic and Hindu schools, argue that voluntary separation will only aggravate segregation within the education system and lead to permanent societal isolation. Further, separate Hindu schools will not succeed in providing quality education, in part because of the concentration of low SES pupils, and therefore they will be associated with school failure and cultural separatism. The ethnic separation within the education system will coincide with ethnic separation within other societal institutions which will result in ethnic enclaves or even ghettos (Teunissen, 1990). One hears in these concerns a worry that segregated schools of any sort are simply bad policy, bad for the Dutch majority but especially so for ethnic minorities. Correspondingly, integrated schools, or schools with a racial/ethnic “balance” (though usually with a native Dutch majority) promise better educational and experiential outcomes for children, but also better outcomes for society because integrated schools are believed to strengthen social cohesion in the public sphere (cf. Merry & New, 2008). Though commonly voiced, this criticism contains a number of question-begging assumptions. First, it is assumed that segregation is a situation created by minorities themselves. While minority groups certainly exhibit preferences for living close to one another, the same of course can be said of majority groups for reasons having to do with social class affinity, access to specific resources, or shared cultural and religious background. Separation is of course also determined by forces outside the control of individuals themselves, including affordable rents or white flight, which in the Netherlands has resulted in rather obvious segregation in both neighborhoods and schools in several cities (cf. Karsten, Felix, Ledoux, Meijnen, Roeleveld & Van Schooten, 2006; Musterd & Ostendorf 2009).11 But the criticism also assumes, without evidence, that an integrated school is better – both in terms of quality as well as in terms of preparing children to live together – than one that is (voluntarily) separate. Here the logic of integration, hinted at above, assumes that mixed schools per se yield better outcomes in academic performance and individual well- being than more homogeneous schools, and also that mixed schools provide the blueprint for how society ought to be organized. In most Western societies, including the Netherlands, it continues to be assumed by liberal elites that simply mixing schools will yield positive outcomes. Thus educational policy, whose aim it is to maintain racial/ethnic balance – for 11 It should be noted that the integrated v. segregated school discussion presently underway in the Netherlands for the most part is a hypothetical discussion. The situation is such that most Hindu parents wishing their child to attend another school in their district would likely have as their only choice a school with a high concentration of poor minorities, where the chances of meeting middle class white pupils are very small indeed.
  • 14. 14 example recent restrictions on parental choice in the Dutch city of Nijmegen12 – is often predicated on the belief that by mixing pupils of different backgrounds the performance of the disadvantaged pupils will go up and the performance of the advantaged pupils will mostly be unaffected. Yet while a concentration of socio-economically disadvantaged pupils in one school building certainly increases the challenges both to teachers and pupils, too frequently the remedies offered are rather simplistic. As for the academic outcomes, a recent review into this so-called school-mix effect does not support this hypothesis (Driessen, 2007), while on the level of societal outcomes, the “benefits” continue to be postulated rather than demonstrated (see Blokland & van Eijk 2010). This is not to say that integrated schools are a bad idea, or that real benefits will not accrue to – particularly disadvantaged – pupils from different backgrounds who interact with one another. Even so, more thinking needs to be done beyond simply mixing schools. While a mixed pupil body is doubtless one variable worth taking into consideration,13 other important features are surely equally important: (1) teacher quality and retention; (2) committed school leadership; (3) parental educational level and involvement; (4) shared community values; (5) role-modeling of school staff; and (6) the cultural relevance of learning material. For proponents of Hindu schools, like proponents of any form of voluntary separation, what they do is not “segregationist.” For starters, the reasons for separation are to reinforce the potentially fragile identities of children from immigrant families who are more likely to experience bullying or harassment, discrimination or exclusion, but also ambivalence toward a culture with which they may not identify (Merry & New, 2008; Villalpando 2003). There is much evidence to suggest that this is often the case for “visible minorities” in the Netherlands, including children of Surinamese background (Van Niekerk, 2004, 2007). Hindu schools, then, assist children in being proud of their cultural background and also to become “good” Hindus. Securing a stronger identity can enable pupils to defend themselves against ignorance and prejudice, both as individuals and as a group. Defining what it means to be a member of the Dutch Hindu community on one’s own terms improves the chances of escaping imposed stereotypes offered up by the media and a school system that otherwise does not address cultural difference except in the most superficial way. Proponents of Hindu schools see that one of the best ways to do this is to explicitly address the minority position of Hindu children relative to the broader Dutch context. Separate schooling as a provisional measure can thus contribute to a child’s self- esteem and autonomy, but also to an inward sense of belonging to one’s cultural group and also outward toward Dutch society (cf. Merry, 2005). Thus, as the title to our chapter suggests, integration by other means engages in double entendre, for it signals different and 12 The new measures were implemented in April 2009; similar initiatives are currently underway in other Dutch cities. 13 Unsurprisingly, all-White schools (and neighborhoods) are generally seen as “normal”, while predominately non-White schools and neighborhoods are perceived as “segregated” (cf. Bonilla-Silva, 2003). As for mixed schools, there continue to be problems with homogeneous classrooms. There also is plenty of evidence that children normally self-select who they will interact with based on shared interests and preferences (cf. Moody 2001; Tatum, 1997).
  • 15. 15 possibly conflicting ways of being “integrated”: (a) being integrated with oneself and one’s “own” community, and (b) integration into the broader society. Both forms of integration, however, involve expectations internal to their specific processes that may serve to alienate rather than emancipate. These include essentialisms of Hinduism but also expressions of tokenism by the majority population. Conclusions In this chapter, we have demonstrated how Hindu schools, within the Dutch context, operate as an important form of cultural and religious mediation for children who otherwise may face higher risks of school failure. Like other community-based forms of education, Hindu schools contribute to emancipation by attending to the religious and cultural identities of children of Surinamese background so that, (seemingly) paradoxically, they can more effectively integrate into the mainstream society. Hindu schools therefore purport themselves to be an avenue of integration by other means. Even so, we have also shown that despite the challenges Dutch Hindus have faced, they continue to be a rather successful minority relative to other minority groups. This can be explained in terms of a tight community structure, fluency in the Dutch language, high social aspirations, and a generally favorable position relative to other immigrant groups, some of whom struggle under more intense pressures to integrate. Yet despite the many positive features of Hindu schools that we have elaborated, there are a few challenges that may arise in the coming years. The first is whether Hindu schools, and the Hindu community at large, will be influenced by – and exploit – the prevailing anti- Islamic ethos, casting themselves as the “model minority”, the tolerant, peaceful alternative to Islam. This will prove a very difficult temptation to resist, particularly when Dutch Islamic schools continue to be viewed as undesirable, and prominent voices in Dutch politics openly rail against the prevalence of Muslim minorities in Dutch cities. Related to this, and already beginning to manifest, is the creeping influence of Hindu nationalist politics from India onto those in the diaspora. Contrary to the manner in which Dutch Hindus portray themselves as peace-loving and tolerant, the Hindutva movement in India is a highly intolerant strain of religious fascism that for decades has grown in size and political power. Indeed, it has already shown itself capable of extending its influence abroad (see Kundu 1994; Zavos 2009).14 The comparative juxtaposition of Hinduism and Islam, with Hinduism being seen as the preferable of the two, has the potential to aggravate tensions by making unfair evaluations between two decidedly different minority groups with completely different pre-immigration and post-immigration histories. With this expanding influence there are reasons to wonder whether the “supremacy” of Hinduism – as the only legitimate religion of India – will influence the ideas and attitudes of Hindus abroad, 14 One could mention escalating tensions between British Sikhs and Hindus during the late 1980s and early 1990s due to struggles in Punjab, or violent outbursts in Britain following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.
  • 16. 16 especially when political currents in Hinduism cannot be restricted to the Indian subcontinent (cf. Kurien, 2007; Vertovec 2000).15 Related to these challenges is the need for Hindu schools to take its claims of mutual respect and emancipation seriously not only by tolerating what others believe and do, but by critically examining Hinduism’s historical role in establishing fixed castes of people, with some persons destined to permanently lower positions, and others relegated outside the caste system altogether, viz., the Dalits. Other topics that could come up for critical discussion might be various patriarchal customs (e.g., control of temples), or the limited freedom to exit one’s Hindu culture (cf. Spinner-Halev, 2005). Whatever the case, Hindu schools have the ability to use religion as a critical resource, one directed against cultural practices that fail to exhibit either emancipation or mutual respect. Finally, one very real challenge for Hindu schools is whether they can remain “authentically” Hindu. Fostering strong Hindu identity in a society where Hinduism is a strange, exotic (and sometimes fashionable) religion poses special challenges, but so do the expectations from parents that Hindu schools first deliver on academic excellence, second on cultural support, and only third on the Hindu faith itself. Unlike Dutch Islamic schools, which struggle to foster an Islamic ethos owing to a severe shortage of Muslim teachers, Hindu schools for the moment have strong community support and its staff are overwhelmingly of Hindu background. Yet like mainstream Christian schools, Hindu schools may before long have the exact same religious identity crisis if the Hindu faith is only an ancillary concern for most of its members. Correlated to this, given the high social aspirations of the Dutch Hindu community, and the manner in which Hindus are generally seen as model minorities in the Netherlands, the arguments for emancipation of a vulnerable minority may cease to resonate. Bibliography Berry, J. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. In K. Chun, P. Balls Organista & G. Marín (Eds.), Acculturation. Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 17-37). Washington, DC: American Pyschological Association. Bhanot, A. (2009). The Gadhimai Sacrifice is Grotesque. The Guardian, available online at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/25/gadhimai-animal-sacrifice- nepal. Accessed on November 26, 2009. Bloemberg, L., & Nijhuis, D. (1993). Hindoescholen in Nederland. Migrantenstudies, 9(3), 35-52. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistance of racial inequality in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Bovenkerk, F. (Ed.). (1978). Omdat zij anders zijn. Patronen van rasdiscriminatie in Nederland. Amsterdam & Meppel: Boom. 15 This influence does not move in one direction. Indians in diaspora can have wield great influence on Indian politics. Wealthy and well-educated Hindus in southern California, for instance, have been major benefactors of Hindutva in India. (See Kurien 2007).
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