Last week, a few international students complained on Page 4 about their housing facilities. This week, Jan Benschop, president of Duwo (Delft housing cooperation) reacts.
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”Of course, sometimes things go wrong,” admits Jan Benschop. ”But according to the consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have the best method of housing students. They compared the housing facilities of various Dutch education institutes, including IHE, with whom we work just like the TU, and concluded that IHE provided the best student housing facilities.”
Over the last eight years, Duwo has had to house increasing numbers of students. Benschop: ”We now house 1,400 students annually. To do this, we’ve got 900 furnished rooms, completely fitted out, including linen and cleaning.”
But Duwo does even more to help students: Duwo sometimes mediates between Delft citizens and students. ”Unfortunately, we don’t always know what quality the rooms are that Delft citizens offer. That was the case with the Norwegian student quoted in last week’s Delta. He wasn’t in a Duwo room; he was housed by the private sector. At Duwo, everybody can leave their room when they want to,” Benschop explains.
Duwo rooms must meet certain standards: For a 16-sqm furnished room in the Roland Holstlaan, including a kitchen and bathroom, students pay fl. 575. But students’ expectations differ greatly. Benschop: ”Our students represent hundreds of nationalities. Some have more money, demanding higher quality; others have less money, requiring less. That somebody is extremely frustrated because he doesn’t have a freezer, well… I’m not going into that.”
Last week, a few international students complained on Page 4 about their housing facilities. This week, Jan Benschop, president of Duwo (Delft housing cooperation) reacts.
”Of course, sometimes things go wrong,” admits Jan Benschop. ”But according to the consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, we have the best method of housing students. They compared the housing facilities of various Dutch education institutes, including IHE, with whom we work just like the TU, and concluded that IHE provided the best student housing facilities.”
Over the last eight years, Duwo has had to house increasing numbers of students. Benschop: ”We now house 1,400 students annually. To do this, we’ve got 900 furnished rooms, completely fitted out, including linen and cleaning.”
But Duwo does even more to help students: Duwo sometimes mediates between Delft citizens and students. ”Unfortunately, we don’t always know what quality the rooms are that Delft citizens offer. That was the case with the Norwegian student quoted in last week’s Delta. He wasn’t in a Duwo room; he was housed by the private sector. At Duwo, everybody can leave their room when they want to,” Benschop explains.
Duwo rooms must meet certain standards: For a 16-sqm furnished room in the Roland Holstlaan, including a kitchen and bathroom, students pay fl. 575. But students’ expectations differ greatly. Benschop: ”Our students represent hundreds of nationalities. Some have more money, demanding higher quality; others have less money, requiring less. That somebody is extremely frustrated because he doesn’t have a freezer, well… I’m not going into that.”
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