What happened in Dutch higher education?

In the middle of the holidays, the The Hague University of Applied Sciences announced (in Dutch) that it was having to economise. As with other universities of applied sciences and universities, the inflow of students is decreasing and the management is worried about the new Cabinet’s cutbacks. The civil servants at the Ministry of Education are currently working on the cutbacks.

‘No other financing system’

A brief glimpse into the thinking at the Ministry emerged (in Dutch) in mid-July in an interdepartementaal beleidsonderzoek (IBO, interministerial policy review). The civil servants from various ministries and advisory bodies sketched possible solutions for the most important problems in higher education. The problems are mostly the high student dropout rate and the range of subjects that do not always meet the demand of the labour market.

Should more degree programmes run more stringent selection procedures to get students in the right place? Or should university education be made more expensive to encourage more VWO (education level that prepares students for university) students to choose higher professional education? The civil servants sketched various scenarios.

Where they do not see any benefit is a comprehensive change in the financing system. Universities of applied sciences and universities receive money according to their student numbers, and, in part, to the number of degrees awarded. Now that the inflow is decreasing, institutions are frequently asking for a different financing system. But the civil servants see ‘no reason’ to change this. What they do see is the potential to improve the current system.

Room rents go up again

This summer, based on its own supply, Kamernet, the housing agency, reported (in Dutch) that student rooms are now more than 5% more expensive than last year. Amsterdam remains the most expensive city in the Netherlands with an average rent of EUR 961, followed by Utrecht at EUR 837.

The average room rent in Delft is EUR 471

The highest increases last year were in Zwolle and Breda. The rent for rooms there went up by an average of 30%. In Delft, the increase was 2.6%, says Kamernet, leading to an average rent of EUR 471.

The Affordable Rent Act, which should limit the prices on the private room rental market, took effect on 1 July. But this will only work (in Dutch) if students fight excessively high rents at the Huurcommissie (rent assessment commission) which has always been an option, or at their municipality, which is new. From January onwards, the Huurcommissie and municipalities can fine lessors if they charge too much rent.

Time will tell if these new Government regulations will be better than the old economic rule of supply and demand. The shortage of rooms is also highest in the most expensive cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, says Kences (in Dutch), the umbrella organisation of social student accommodation providers in response to the price increases. But last year showed that higher prices also lead to a drop in demand. Students are living at home longer because of overly expensive rooms.

UMC wants money from Plasterk

Former Minister, informateur (the person who mediates between political parties to form the government) and academic Ronald Plasterk is surely not the only developer of a new form of cancer treatment, the Amsterdam University Medical Centre (UMC) believes (in Dutch) after an internal investigation. A staff member of the UMC was also involved in the development and should therefore also be listed on the patent.

In March, the NRC newspaper concluded (in Dutch) that Plasterk was not justified in claiming the patent under his name alone. This meant that the Amsterdam UMC had no share of the millions that Plasterk earned by selling the patent to CureVac, a German pharmaceutical company.

The UMC wants to see some of that money and if necessary, it will go to court. Plasterk has maintained for months that he was the only developer. He told the NRC that the UMC will have to approach CureVac to find a solution.

Unintended support in plagiarism

Normally, it helps teachers catch out students who plagiarise. But if you give students a plagiarism scanner, the Saxion University of Applied Sciences discovered (in Dutch) that it actually helps them hide any cutting and pasting.

Students ran their work through the plagiarism scanner up to nine times

During a court case that a student filed against the University of Applied Sciences, it transpired that students ran their work through the plagiarism scanner up to nine times. An essay that was initially 86% plagiarised, could ultimately be handed in at less than 10% plagiarised. Given the ongoing investigation, Saxion does not want to say (in Dutch) how many students used the software for this purpose. But Saxion has since refused access to the scanner.

Pride flag stolen

On 5 August, unknown thieves stole the Pride flag and the Stop Violence Against Women flag at the Free University of Amsterdam (VU). They replaced the flags with the controversial orange, white and blue Prince’s Flag with the logo of the VOC (the Dutch East India Company). The VU reported the incident and quickly hung the original flags back. They do not only hang at the VU’s main building during the annual Pride, but are there every day.

‘A shift in atmosphere at the Free University’

Rector Jeroen Geurts responded with concern to the theft and called inclusiveness “A right that still needs to be secured every day, so that everyone can simply be who they are”. In February, he said (in Dutch) that he had been approached by people who wanted the Pride flag gone. They viewed the flag as a political statement or as something that goes against their religious beliefs.

In the Ad Valvas university newspaper, VU Pride, a network for LHBTQIA+ students and staff members at the VU call the theft ‘not an isolated incident, but rather one of many that have contributed to an atmosphere shift at the VU’.

Student protests in Bangladesh

While the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the Netherlands went for a summer break, student protests in Bangladesh scaled up. Students there demonstrated against the way in which the Government wanted to allocate Government jobs. The police acted heavy handedly, which caused even bigger demonstrations. Hundreds of people have died.

The student protest is getting more and more support. On 5 August, thousands of demonstrators stormed the official residence of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, who fled to India by helicopter. At the request of the student movement, Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize Laureate and microfinancier, and with the agreement of the army, formed a temporary government.

Art School under supervision

The Inspectorate of Education has been concerned about the University of the Arts The Hague and is increasing its supervision of the institution, an investigation (in Dutch) published this summer reported.

The management needs to submit a new action plan to the Inspectorate

The reason for the Inspectorate’s investigation was an article in the NRC newspaper (in Dutch) on transgressive behaviour by a former student at the Royal Academy of Art, one of the two faculties at the University of Applied Sciences. The Inspectorate wanted to know whether the management was able to guarantee social safety.

While the University of Applied Sciences has taken positive steps, there is still a way to go, writes the Inspectorate. Otherwise, there will still be a risk ‘that the rectification is not continued and that new signals are not picked up’.

The investigation also showed that both the University of Applied Sciences’ Boards of Examiners did not fulfil their legal task as ‘upholder of the quality of education’ and they were inadequately involved in improvements to the examination policy. The financial position of the University of Applied Sciences also continues to be uncertain. The management needs to submit a new action plan to the Inspectorate at the beginning of September.