In the run-up to the large demonstration on Monday against the cutbacks in higher education and research, a petition is circulating. It has been signed 56,800 times so far.
This academic year, Dutch universities saw a 6% drop in international bachelor’s students – and this is before the strict Government plans came into effect. The UNL university association fears an ‘indiscriminate slash and burn’.
On Thursday afternoon, around 150 staff members and students came to the demonstration organised by the VSSD students union to protest against the cutbacks in higher education. There were also demonstrations in Utrecht and The Hague against the Cabinet’s policy.
The VSSD Delft students union is coming back to action after a couple of ‘sleeping’ years. The protests against the cutbacks in higher education have put the wind in the union’s sails. The students are calling on everyone at TU Delft to join the protest in Utrecht on 14 November. Delta spoke to its Secretary, Sam de Jong.
This year, first-year Mechanical Engineering students had to design a safe door. A different team got the keys and had to unlock it, without forcing. That was not always easy.
TU Delft is the backdrop for the Campus Open Days on Thursday and Friday. It is the first period in the academic year when pupils can visit and have a look at the academic institution where they may go and study. Have they already taken a decision?
Higher education institutions will have increased difficulty in offering courses taught in English. Education Minister Eppo Bruins has written to the House of Representatives informing them that he intends to enforce stricter rules than his predecessor envisaged.
Two Dutch universities are discontinuing their scholarship programmes for Chinese PhD students. They get insufficient funding and there are knowledge security concerns. Other universities should also exercise caution, VVD politicians warn.
If all Bachelor’s programmes became Dutch-taught, higher education would shrink by 8.6 percent, researchers from Groningen have calculated. International students and scientists will stay away and this will end up costing the Netherlands a lot of money.
