A school in a disadvantaged part of Rotterdam has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with IT company AFAS, the AD reports on Monday.

The deal involves €300,000 in cash and new computers, the AD says. ‘We have never heard of such a large amount being involved in school sponsorship,’ an education ministry spokesman told the paper.

The Hugo de Groot secondary school in Charlois has also agreed that AFAS will not have any influence over how the money is spent, the paper says.

MPs have in general welcomed the deal but the Socialists are concerned that sponsorship will lead to the creation of rich and poor schools. ‘Education should be of the same quality everywhere,’ MP Jitske Siderius said.