Education

Dutch University Students Go To War

It may come as a bit of a surprise to foreign students or researchers, but yes, in Holland, there are student protests, too. This week, eight thousand students converged on Amsterdam to protest Dutch government plans to cut the higher education budget by 358 million euro over the next few years.

It was the biggest Dutch student demonstration in years. The students are supported by 189 institutions and the boards of several universities. At the Amsterdam protest, the vice-chancellor of the University of Amsterdam addressed the student protesters in a show of support. The students and universities fear that in future Dutch higher education will no longer be accessible to people of every income level, as students’ study budgets are cut % traditionally a major issue in the Netherlands. In the meantime, the universities complain Dutch research will be hampered too, as governmental budgets for laboratories and personnel shrink. Meanwhile, Dutch government officials emphasize that the average student will not notice any budget cuts. Also, the government announced it wants to raise the university budget for the maintenance of buildings. Still, it looks as if the student protest is just the beginning of a period of social unrest in Dutch higher education. The government is sticking to its plan to end grants for students who register for more than one study. Moreover, a majority of the Dutch parliament wants to spend 360 million euro that was earmarked for applied research on infrastructure projects.

It may come as a bit of a surprise to foreign students or researchers, but yes, in Holland, there are student protests, too. This week, eight thousand students converged on Amsterdam to protest Dutch government plans to cut the higher education budget by 358 million euro over the next few years. It was the biggest Dutch student demonstration in years. The students are supported by 189 institutions and the boards of several universities. At the Amsterdam protest, the vice-chancellor of the University of Amsterdam addressed the student protesters in a show of support. The students and universities fear that in future Dutch higher education will no longer be accessible to people of every income level, as students’ study budgets are cut % traditionally a major issue in the Netherlands. In the meantime, the universities complain Dutch research will be hampered too, as governmental budgets for laboratories and personnel shrink. Meanwhile, Dutch government officials emphasize that the average student will not notice any budget cuts. Also, the government announced it wants to raise the university budget for the maintenance of buildings. Still, it looks as if the student protest is just the beginning of a period of social unrest in Dutch higher education. The government is sticking to its plan to end grants for students who register for more than one study. Moreover, a majority of the Dutch parliament wants to spend 360 million euro that was earmarked for applied research on infrastructure projects.

Editor Redactie

Do you have a question or comment about this article?

delta@tudelft.nl

Comments are closed.