‘Education Minister hinders refugees’ right to education’     Dutch Education Minister Dijkgraaf is obstructing the right to education of young people who have lived in the Netherlands without status for many years by suddenly making them pay the fees for foreign students after their final exams in higher education. The Landelijk Ongedocumenteerden Steunpunt (National…

Application for renewal education changes     If a college or university wants to start a new programme, it must submit an application to the Commission for Higher Education Effectiveness (CDHO). If it’s up to minister Dijkgraaf, the rules for such an application will change.   Dijkgraaf proposes an internet consultation. Universities and colleges of…

Bronze medals for Delft master’s programmes     This year’s gold medals from weekly magazine EW (formerly Elsevier) go to 112 programmes in higher education. Their students are very satisfied with the content of their programmes, atmosphere, teachers and facilities. TU Delft picks up three bronze medals. The Master’s programmes Science Education & Communication, Life…

Government intervention in cases of mismanagement in education     The Government is planning to intervene more quickly in cases of mismanagement in education. This is not the same as restricting academic freedom, Minister of Education Wiersma told a critical House of Representatives.   The two Christian coalition parties, CDA and CU, have major doubts…

Education to remain open as long as possible in new wave of coronavirus     Should the coronavirus flare up again, the Government will keep educational institutions open as long as possible. Only if pupils, students and staff are in immediate danger will the gates be closed.   Education is ‘at the bottom of the…

Flemish higher education institution still closed after cyber attack     The Flemish university of applied sciences Vives is struggling with the aftermath of a cyber-attack. On Friday 8 April, hackers managed to penetrate the school’s systems. They wanted to get hold of student and staff data, but according to Vives, they were warned in…

Half a billion euro for digitalisation of education Through the National Growth Fund, the Dutch government is investing a maximum of 6.3 billion euros in projects that contribute to the future ‘earning capacity’ of the Netherlands. A part of this amount, 560 million euros, will go to the digitalisation of higher education and vocational education…

Inspectorate wants better insight into the quality of education     Why do some Dutch educational programmes not pass the NVAO accreditation organisation’s inspection in one go? And what improvements then help best? Nobody can answer these kinds of questions now, says the Education Inspectorate in its new State of Education (in Dutch). Everyone can…

University hospitals want larger share of education and research funds     Dutch university hospitals hope that Minister Dijkgraaf will reverse the shift of education and research funds to the universities of technology and science faculties. The Dutch Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU) responds (in Dutch) to Minister Dijkgraaf’s ‘outline letter’ on higher education…

Statistics Netherlands: a disability has an impact in higher education too     People with a mental or physical disability are less likely to pursue higher education and are also less likely to graduate, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands.   Among those people with no disability issues, 54 percent studied in higher professional education…