Whilst the Dutch government is marching ahead with its plans to limit the influx of international students in higher education, it’s also facing some very warranted criticism. 👇
From university organisations and student unions to individual professors and students, opposition to the government’s plans is being voiced at every level of Dutch higher education, the NOS reports.
What do these government plans actually involve?
Essentially, the government wants to reduce the number of students in Dutch higher education — especially international students.
In their view, this would solve several problems, including the student housing shortage, overcrowding of lecture halls, excessive teacher workload, and — last but not least — the “anglicisation” of Dutch education.
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The move would also allow the Netherlands to cut down on its education budget, freeing up a sum of €293 million annually and resulting in 30,000 fewer students.
In practice, this would involve actively discouraging international students from choosing Dutch education.
Measures would include limiting their access to financial help such as DUO’s basic grant, introducing a numerus fixus on English-taught programs, and eventually slashing these programs altogether by ensuring that two-thirds of all degrees are taught in Dutch.
Why is everyone against it?
These plans have raised multiple concerns — let’s look at the main three. 👇
1. Other courses will also suffer
Firstly, cracking down on English-taught programmes will blow a considerable deal to the income of many Dutch universities.
According to Casper van den Berg, chairman of the organisation Universiteit van Nederland, the government’s “blunt axe” approach will actually reduce the quality of other courses offered.
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Many niche Dutch-taught programmes are currently financially viable thanks to the funding derived from more popular English-taught programmes — without the latter, these smaller degrees risk disappearing.
Currently, the income generated by international students is simply indispensable. “That is a wrong revenue model, but it is a fact,” comments student union LSVb chairman Abdelkader Karbache.
2. There’s a looming teacher shortage
Karbache also points out that English-speaking staff are vital to the functioning of Dutch higher education.
By introducing the “three-quarters Dutch” rule, the government risks generating a teacher shortage, as the available Dutch-speaking staff won’t be enough to cover all the new positions.
3. “Anglicisation” isn’t actually a problem
Finally, the cabinet’s core argument that Dutch universities are undergoing an “anglicisation” process and that this constitutes a problem is also coming under fire.
The association for Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences (Vereniging Hogescholen), for instance, thinks that the ‘anglicisation’ alarm is being overstated.
As the organisation points out, 92% of higher professional education programmes are already in Dutch, making Dutch-language education “the norm”.
Because of these and other concerns related to planned budget cuts to education, several university student and staff organisations have announced a protest for November 14.
Whether the backlash will lead the government to change its plans, however, remains to be seen.
Do you think the Schoof cabinet should press ahead with its crackdown on international students? Share your opinion with us in the comments below.