The majority of the cuts in education and research can go ahead as planned, the deal on the budget for education, science and culture that was concluded Wednesday reveals. Of the 2 billion euros, a little shy of 700 million will be reversed.

Ninety-nine physics demonstrations for free, that’s what the latest TU Delft’s open interactive textbook has to offer. Complete with videos and educational notes for students and teachers alike. “Why not let others benefit from years of work?”

The government’s proposed cuts to education and research will falter in the Senate, the opposition parties warn. But judging by Tuesday evening’s debate in the House of Representatives, the four ruling coalition parties do not seem overly concerned about that prospect. “For now, we are putting national security first.”

D66, CDA and JA21 say they will use their power in the Senate to halt many of the proposed government cuts in education and research. Their announcement comes as the House of Representatives gears up to debate the budget for education, science and culture.

Despite train delays and bad weather, it was crowded on the Malieveld in The Hague on Monday afternoon, 25 November. According to the organisers, 20,000 people attended the protest against the announced cutbacks on higher education. Among them were plenty from TU Delft.

Vocational schools and higher education institutions are set to receive a total of 81 million euros in government funding over the next two years to train more technical workers for the microchip sector – as quickly as possible. Educational institutions in the Delft region will share 9.4 million euros.

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.