As every student has probably deduced from the amount of emails UM has sent out, Dutch universities are not particularly excited about the government’s proposed education reforms. To quote the most recent message posted on their website: “Maastricht University has serious concerns about this.” Question remains, what exactly has the government proposed? Why did they propose it in the first place? And why have Dutch universities been protesting against the reforms?
Dutch news outlets have elaborately reported on this. However, from my own experience as a rare Dutch in a sea of internationals, many students do not have a clue about what is going on, even though they are one of the main targets of this arguably dysfunctional government plan. Yesterday night marked a last-minute deal between the opposition and government to secure next year’s education budget cuts. Considering the final vote on the 2025 financial plan is expected to pass at the hand of yesterday’s deal, let’s see what all the fuss is about. Let me give you a brief masterclass about the mess that is Dutch politics and the cabinet’s move for the future of higher education in the Netherlands. To fully explain their reasoning, I will first tell you about the new government, their proposal and the criticism it carries.
The Government and Their Reasoning
Even in international media, Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch “PVV” (Partij voor de Vrijheid [Party for Freedom]) has made quite the name for himself. His party aims to push immigrants out of the country and give “the Netherlands back to the Dutch”. Although about 23% of the Dutch electorate took the decision to vote for the PVV in last year’s election, Wilders’ is not the sole party governing the country. Geert Wilders won the race, but he has failed to convince other parties to unite under him as Prime Minister. As Dutch governments have always had to do, Wilders too has had to compromise.
To form a government after his victory, the PVV has united with three other Dutch political parties: the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC), and the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD). NSC was recently established by Pieter Omzigt, who is convinced the Netherlands needs a new culture of governance, turning such belief into the main theme his party has been built on. The BBB is the second youngest party in the current cabinet, led by Caroline van der Plas. She has vowed to represent all Dutch people, but takes special interest in farmers, whose representation is the reason she established her party. Completing the quartet is the VVD. Ironically uniting in this anti-establishment coalition, the VVD is one of the most established parties in Dutch politics, with this being their fourteenth consecutive year in power. The VVD states to represent middle-class entrepreneurs and right-leaning liberalists.
Finally, the four parties are led by prime minister Dick Schoof, who is not politically affiliated with any of the quartet, but was chosen to guide them in their controversial union. This is a result of the other parties’ distrust of the PVV and of Geert Wilders, who would normally have become PM as leader of the biggest party. Despite their many disagreements, the one thing these political groups have in common is their wish to limit immigration. They argue this is a way to solve the ongoing housing crisis and to answer to the government’s dire need to save money. The coalition views a limit on international student influx as one way to do both of these things, making it a big part of their proposed education reform.
The Coalition Agreement, Internationalisation in Balance Act, and Non-Dutch Students
To know what policies the sitting coalition wants to implement, we need to look at their foundational agreement. As explained earlier, this government aims to limit incoming migration, establish a harsher border policy, and make it more difficult for migrants’ extended family members to migrate to the Netherlands.
Under the chapter on education, the coalition agreement outlines that the anglicisation of higher education institutions will be limited, exempting university courses which necessarily require an inflow of international students to complement the Dutch labour market. What’s more, the government aims to limit international admissions through the introduction of a cap on foreign students per course. The early 2024 accord stated that further agreements to reduce the stream of international students into the Netherlands would be published, which have slowly surfaced since.
Part of these surfacing proposals is the Internationalisation in Balance Act, which contains those specific regulations the Dutch government wants to implement, such as the ‘dutchification’ of universities. This means that the default language of every course will be Dutch, unless universities can show that it is necessary for the course to be taught in English. It is expected to result in a significant reduction of foreign students in the Netherlands. However, the plan is limited to undergraduate and associate degrees, as reducing English-based master-courses is not included in the law. Furthermore, the law states that a concrete proposal will be formulated to enhance Dutch speaking skills among international students, enhancing both integration and the chances of students staying here to be employed.
The original plan has not been uncontested, given that the majority of the opposition parties disagree with the course of action taken by Cabinet Schoof I. Today, the parliament had to approve the 2025 government budget, which integrates the savings proposed in the Law on Internationalisation. At the time of writing, it is not yet clear what exactly the results of this vote are, but considering yesterday’s deal it is extremely likely that it will pass. The other parts of the law are expected to be voted on after the winter break.
Reactions, Drawbacks, and Criticisms
Despite the government’s view that their original reform plan would save the country 272 million every year, projections show that it will also result in the Dutch educational sector shrinking by about 72000 students. On top of this, researchers argue that such reforms will make the Netherlands less attractive to international researchers, which might hurt the so-called “knowledge economy” the Netherlands has always been so proud of. Not only is this hurtful in terms of prestige, but it has also been projected to decrease the BBP by 1.6 percent.
University representatives agree with this negative assessment of the impact said reform would have, arguing that international students are an integral part of the Dutch university system. In 2017, the CPB, the Dutch national centre for statistical research found that international students contribute more to the national economy than what they cost, especially since about one-fourth of these students are part of the working population and thus taxpayers. Following these drawbacks, it is no wonder that many protests have erupted since the announcement of the new law.
One might wonder whether in the end the costs of this plan are worth it, and whether the reasoning provided by the cabinet is viable in the long run. As the coalition struggled to push their plans through, the Dutch opposition has provided several amendments to the new law. For example, the opposition parties aim to safeguard the economic viability of border regions, which, surprise, includes Maastricht.
While the focus of the amendments remains the protection of Dutch students, the opposition has managed to limit budget cuts that would have directly affected international students at €147 million per year instead of the €272 million originally proposed. As you can probably imagine, this might mitigate part of the negative effects of the plan, but has left universities unsatisfied and worried about the future of Dutch innovation. Moreover, the complete plan on dutchification of universities is not off the table and will be voted on next year, leaving us thinking about what the future changes in higher education will look like. Let’s hope the right decisions are made for the sake of our future education, the Dutch economy, and most importantly, the return of peace to our university email inboxes.
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