Nearly 600 high school diplomas invalid due to school blunder

An administrative blunder at the Het Assink Lyceum in Haaksbergen and Eibergen resulted in the diplomas of 570 pupils being declared invalid. These diplomas all state that the pupils passed cum laude, while that is actually only the case for nine of them. The mistake was discovered by a parent, AD reports.

All 570 diplomas include the sentence: "The judicium cum laude has been awarded on the grounds of Article 52 of the Final Exam Decision VO". But the sentence should only have been on nine diplomas. To rectify the mistake, all 570 pupils will have to get a new diploma, though their grades won't change and they do not have to retake their exams.

According to rector Jozef Geurtzen, the mistake came in during the communication with the agency that issues the diplomas. "We can download standard diplomas and adjust them to a certain extent, for example by adding our logo. The sentence on cum laude was also added", he said to the newspaper. "A parent reported it to a team leader Monday morning, who informed me. We investigated whether it was an incident, but it turned out to be wrong on all diplomas. In consultation with the education inspectorate we decided that all students will receive a new diploma."

Parents will receive a letter on Wednesday informing them when new diplomas can be collected.