A bomb scare shakes up commuters in Den Bosch. The government survives one political escapade only to find it is facing another. Teenagers demand better schools, and the Dutch Olympians are gearing up for gold.

You would think that a man in a white jalabah shouting “I’ve got a bomb and it’s activated” would be enough to cause absolute panic during rush hour at a busy station, writes de Volkskrant. But the man in question was also asking for cigarettes, saying he loved the Dutch and was against Bin Laden. Most passengers in the early morning train at Den Bosch station reacted calmly. Some were scared, some phoned the police. But most concluded that the man was just crazy. One passenger had the presence of mind to go up to him and say, “Sir, would you like to come this way,” and handed him over to the authorities.
 
Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Mohamed Amezian happened to be in the same carriage as the would-be terrorist. “He was clearly confused. He said he had a bomb, but I had a feeling he didn’t. I thought: he’s just nuts.”
 
Nevertheless Den Bosch station in the south of the Netherlands was evacuated and train services were cancelled for five hours. To make matters worse a member of staff of the Dutch railway company NS told journalists that explosives had been found. Meanwhile, police had flown in a tracker dog by helicopter to search for a bomb. None was found.
 
The country’s youngest daily nrc.next analyses the problem of communication in situations like this. It concludes that the problem is everyone wants to have their say. NS has apologised for the confusion it caused. An expert tells the paper “Communication has to be sober and de-escalating, otherwise it becomes theatre.”
 
Cabinet survives Davids report
After weeks of deliberation, the coalition government has reached agreement on a reaction to the Davids inquiry, writes Trouw. After Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s impromptu statement when it was first published, dismissing the findings of the inquiry into the Dutch support for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, it was always going to be difficult for the prime minister to save face while satisfying coalition partner the Labour Party, which has always been critical of the then Dutch government’s position in the matter. Finally, the two sides managed to find a formula to agree on and ministers are photographed smiling as they leave the meeting.
 
In nrc.next there’s a report that parliament appears to be satisfied with the nine-page document in which the cabinet now accepts most of the “facts” of the inquiry. It realises that the parliament should have been better informed and there should have been a “more adequate mandate”. But the cabinet, which has verged on the edge of an abyss for the last month, doesn’t like to dwell on the past, it plans to take the eight “lessons learned” and look to the future.
 
But will it survive the Afghanistan decision?
Trouw and nrc.next agree that, with an eye to the future, it was no accident the cabinet informed parliament yesterday about a NATO request for the Dutch army and police trainers to remain in Afghanistan.
 
Afghanistan will be the next hurdle for the cabinet in the final year of its term. The Labour Party and a majority of MPs want the Netherlands to leave the war-torn country, as promised, after its mission in the province of Uruzgan ends in August. The Christian Democrats want to stay. A small training mission could provide another face-saving solution.
 
But the Labour Party fears a ‘training mission’ will be another misnomer for a combat mission. The current operation was billed as a ‘reconstruction mission’, but the Task Force Uruzgan has been involved in several battles and come under attack on occasion. With the local elections coming up in the Netherlands in March and the Labour Party lagging behind in the polls, the party has little room to manoeuvre writes nrc.next.
 
Of course, the Afghans are meant to be taking on more responsibility for their own security, but how well prepared are their forces? Evening daily NRC Handelsblad describes how, in 2007, Afghan volunteers arrived wearing training shoes and brandishing Kalashnikov’s bought at the local market. Many of these have since been incorporated in the Afghan National Army ANA, which is carrying out its own operations, but is not ready to fight the Taliban completely on its own. The paper quotes the hope expressed by a Dutch officer at the Uruzgan base Camp Holland, “The ANA is our exit strategy”. It could be the cabinet’s too.
 
Pupils protest against poor schooling
You would expect teenagers who are sent home because of a lack of teaching staff would be cheering. But not in the Netherlands. “Secondary school pupils in vocational education want old-fashioned teaching” writes de Volkskrant.
 
While the authorities have set up all kinds of organisations to keep kids in school, the schools themselves are sending children home. Secondary school pupils are taking to the streets of The Hague today to vent their frustration. Their point was underlined by last week’s school inspectorate’s report naming 500 weak schools and 64 very weak schools. This may only be a very small proportion of schools, but try telling that to Latifa, Pascal and Mohamed when they’ve not had an English lesson all year, writes de Volkskrant.
 
The problem is partly that vocational education has become more individualistic. Pupils work on projects with the teacher acting as coach. Too much self-discipline, personal responsibility and independence are being asked of them, it seems. This group of non-academic teenagers, whose prospects are low at the best of times, need more structure and old-fashioned teaching from exemplary teachers. The other side of the coin is that qualified teachers are not lining up to teach this group because of the social problems faced by many of the children in the huge vocational schools.
 
Dutch Olympians go for gold
The count down to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver has begun and, with just three days to go, Trouw and de Volkskrant dedicate supplements to the event. Readers of de Volkskrant are treated to a black and white photo of figure skating outdoors on Lake Placid in 1932. Oh, how times have changed.
 
While the athletes warm up for their competitions, the Canadian authorities are probably wishing the temperatures would cool down. Trouw reports that the mayor of Whistler in the Rocky Mountains wanted a ‘green’ Olympics, but having to ferry in snow wasn’t what he had in mind. Hosting the Olympics is a dream come true, the village had been hoping it would get the chance since it was built in the 1960s.
 
Reading de Volkskrant you could be forgiven for thinking speed skater Sven Kramer is the only Dutch competitor. Luckily Trouw has remembered the two-man bobsleigh team has got a secret weapon: a top-speed, Dutch-made sleigh. So, if you see something orange flash past your screen early in the morning, it could be the Dutch going for gold.