From Morocco to a Dutch education board: Mariam Ikassrien once dreamed of university
After arriving from Morocco as a teenager, Mariam Ikassrien met Queen Máxima three times, including at a royal residence. She also spoke on stage alongside a minister. It all began with a school placement test taken a few months after her arrival.
Since October 1, 2026, Mariam Ikassrien has served on the supervisory board of SKB Nederland, an organization that works to promote equal opportunities in education. The board has five members. Its chair, Mariëlle Paul, was Minister of Primary and Secondary Education in 2023-2024, then Minister of Social Affairs until February 2026. Mariam represents young people, according to SKB Nederland.
A few months after arriving in the Netherlands, she took a school placement test. It placed her in vmbo-basis, a secondary track focused on vocational education. Yet she already wanted to go to university.
When she announced her ambition, people looked at her in surprise, she says in a testimonial published by DUB in December 2023. With help, she progressed quickly, first to havo and then vwo, the general education tracks, and earned her diploma. She then enrolled at Utrecht University to study education because she wants to help people.
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In a DUB article from October 2024, she says she always felt she had to put her Moroccan roots aside and do more than others. In her view, her teachers only believed in her when she scored 8 out of 10.
Three meetings with Queen Máxima
She became involved with Mind Us, a foundation dedicated to young people’s mental health, and joined its advisory board, where young people suggest ways to improve the situation. There, she says, she learned the protocols and language needed to speak to decision-makers. In 2023, she met Queen Máxima, the foundation’s honorary chair, three times: at Noordeinde Palace, in Wassenaar and at a university festival in September. She also remembers a meeting at Villa Eikenhorst, the official residence, where people wanted to take her coat and carry her bag.
At the festival, she spoke on stage about her journey during a debate with Robbert Dijkgraaf, then Minister of Education, Culture and Science.
In 2024, she was a finalist in an election to represent young people at the United Nations on human rights and security. She did not win the position.
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In a interview published by SKB in July 2026, she says she wants to ensure that young people who are rarely heard have a voice on the board. In her view, equal opportunities also depend on children’s home lives and the people around them, not just on school.
