Definitief wetsvoorstel Zijlstra ‘nog slechter’

“De staatssecretaris verkocht zijn plannen in eerste instantie als middel om de kwaliteit van het hoger onderwijs te verbeteren en het aantal langstudeerders terug te dringen. Als het ook nog een bezuiniging opleverde, was dat helemaal mooi”, zegt een woordvoerder van de HBO-raad. “Maar nu blijkt gewoon dat hij koste wat kost wil bezuinigen.”

Prikkel
De staatssecretaris besloot na het advies van de Raad van State, dat vorige week met het wetsvoorstel naar de Tweede Kamer werd gestuurd, onder meer om de boete voor instellingen te veranderen in een algemene bezuiniging op het hoger onderwijs. “De prikkel voor hogescholen om hun best te doen om het aantal langstudeerders te verminderen is daarmee weg. Want of ze hun best doen of niet, ze worden toch gepakt.” Bovendien zijn nu ook de hogescholen het slachtoffer die nauwelijks langstudeerders hebben, aldus de woordvoerder.

Geen visie
“Dit zijn bezuinigingen zonder visie. Ook wij willen de kwaliteit van het hoger onderwijs graag verbeteren. Maar wij vinden met de Raad van State dat het zinvoller is om het probleem eerst goed te analyseren, voordat je allerlei botte maatregelen neemt.” De HBO-raad vindt het bovendien “hard en onbehoorlijk” dat er geen overgangsmaatregelen worden getroffen voor zittende studenten.

Twenty years after its European inception, the Board of European Students of Technology (Best) has finally arrived in Delft. This large student organisation with a presence in thirty countries offers its members a chance to participate in Europe-wide academic, corporate and social events, as well as travel and party with Best students wherever they are found. Two of Best’s leading lights on campus are Michiel Maasen (president) and Eda Emirdag (secretary) of Local Best Group (LBG) in Delft. Maasen, an MSc student at the IDE faculty, first came across Best while at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm. He so liked the idea that he subsequently decided to set up a LBG in Delft. Emirdag, an MSc student at 3ME, was already involved with Best while a student at Middle East Technical University, in Turkey. Together with Jasper Eijmers (treasurer) and others, these like-minded people came together and applied to the Best organisation to form a LBG in Delft.

“We worked hard, going from being an observer group in June 2009 to finally become officially recognised as a LBG in December 2009,” Emirdag says. Presently LBG Delft has 11 members (six board members), with an equal proportion of Dutch and internationals. The group is rapidly gaining a foothold in Delft, with around 150 students now subscribing to the group’s email list to ‘stay informed’ about future events. Although Best Delft is still busy working with TU Delft to acquire an office space, the current members meet each week and plan events for months ahead. Maasen told us more about this burgeoning new organisation on campus and how Best members interact with and learn from each other.

What made you want to start LBG Delft?
“Our university is international, but the student community is still not so. When I came across Best in Stockholm, I thought a LBG in Delft would be the right platform to enable Dutch and international students to interact more freely and mix socially. Besides, I’ve worked with other student associations and felt that Best was far more professional and organised. That was my motivation.”

Best Europe has been going for twenty years now. How come Delft joined so late?
“Although Best has invited the university to join since the beginning, there was not enough initiative from the students until now.”

How often does the LBG Delft meet?
“We have regular meetings once a week, but when there is special need, we meet as well. And twice a year we have compulsory regional meetings with other LBGs. One representative from every LBG attends these meetings.”

How does LBG Delft compare with AEGEE, which is also spread across Europe and has a longer and stronger presence in Delft?
“We have more focus on technology students and academic events, whereas AEGEE has comparatively more social events. We also have leisure events, but Best involves students with universities and companies. Our logo features a triangle representing students, universities and companies.”

What events have LBG Delft organised thus far?
“So far we’ve organised one event: a group discussion for internal members. We started very recently, in December last year, so haven’t organised any events for external members yet.”

What is next event LBG Delft has planned?
“Sometime in mid-March there will be a local engineering competition, which will last all afternoon and involve four-member teams being set a certain task to complete. The winners will compete in the next round, to be held for the region and subsequently throughout Europe. We plan to put this information on the Blackboard and our website soon.”

Can a student claim ECTS points for courses or events organised by LBG?
“In many universities where Best has long been established this is possible. At the moment however TU Delft students cannot claim ECTS points for courses or events organised by us. We’re still negotiating with TU Delft about this. It’s comparable to the ATHENS programme, where some faculties give credits and others not.”

So how does one become a Best member?
 “Just send us an email: delft@best.eu.org. We don’t have a strict selection process. Members should be active and motivated to develop soft skills, such as organising events. For those who want to be involved passively, we have a group email list for obtaining information about our events.”