Prime Minister Schoof visits Heerlen

Prime Minister Schoof:
"What struck me enormously today was the positivism. That actually among all people. Whether it's administrators, whether it's education, whether it's business, whether it's the resident, everyone is like, 'we have to make something of it!' No longer that huge negative image that has been dominant for a very long time."

Heerlen-North & downtown 

The Prime Minister first visited the Upper Vocational School in Heerlen-North, where he learned about the generational approach of the Heerlen-North National Program. He then walked through Vrieheide, engaging in conversation with residents and housing corporations. He then climbed the Mijnsteenberg near the Sibelco quarry. In the afternoon, the prime minister was downtown. The prime minister has been to the center of Heerlen more often in the past and noticed the change: "When you walk through downtown now you see that it has a completely different look than before, that is striking." 

Via the Maankwartier, the Royal and SCHUNCK, Prime Minister Schoof arrived on foot at the RWTH in the city center. There he interacted with students about the development of Heerlen. He also spoke with Mayor Roel Wever and various higher education partners about developments in Health, the cooperation between MBO, HBO and Wed. The negative consequences of the intended legislation on the internationalization of education were also discussed. 

Acting decisively 

Mayor Roel Wever on the visit:
"On behalf of the entire college, I am proud that Prime Minister Schoof visited Heerlen. It was a first visit to Limburg and thus to Heerlen. It is good to see that he was impressed by the positive atmosphere and the progress in the city. The visit was actually twofold: dwelling on complicated issues like poverty, housing and the Zuyderland dossier, but also highlighting opportunities from the developments at the quarries, the renewals in the city center, entrepreneurship and cooperation with the educational institutions. I think he goes back to The Hague with the idea that this is a region that picks up opportunities itself and acts decisively. But that it is also up to the national government to put its shoulders to the wheel here and look at the difference between structural tasks and incidental money."