Schools minister Arie Slob has been forced to miss the end of the parliamentary year after falling ill with a bacterial infection.

The 56-year-old had been due to take part in a debate on Tuesday on the administrative debacle that has forced more than 350 students at two schools in Maastricht to resit their end-of-year exams.

The Christian Union (CU) minister withdrew from the debate at the last minute after succumbing to what his spokesman described as a ‘heavy flu’.

But on Thursday education and culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven, who stood in for Slob in the debate, revealed he had been taken to the Isala hospital in Zwolle after the bacterial infection was discovered.

A spokesman for the ChristenUnie said: ‘We wish Arie the best of health and are praying that he recovers quickly.’