Denmark can’t do without international students

Denmark can’t do without international students

Denmark has restricted the inflow of international students the past two years, but is now turning back. Highly skilled internationals are proving indispensable in the tight labour market.

In 2021, the Danish cabinet decided to drastically reduce the number of English-language courses in higher education. This would save costs and keep education accessible to Danish students. But this week, Denmark made a U-turn. Education minister Christina Egelund called for the policy to be reversed after employers complained about the rising shortage of highly skilled workers, reports platform The Pie News.

Netherlands
In the Netherlands, there is currently a lot of discussion about the Englishification of education and the influx of international students. In his recent bill, outgoing education minister Dijkgraaf offers institutions a number of tools to limit the intake. In doing so, they can take into account the local labour market.

But the bill is not enough for many. Pieter Omtzigt, whose party Nieuw Sociaal Contract scores high in the election polls, wants to go much further. He proposes drastically curbing the Dutch migration balance and also reducing the number of international students. Other parties, including the ChristenUnie, Forum voor Democratie and PVV, among others, also want to limit the influx of internationals. (HOP, PvT)

• Delta, together with other higher education media, is currently surveying how the above discussions in the Netherlands affect international students and staff. Read more here.