Delta in dutch

It seems the Netherlands’ is pretty stingy compared to other countries: in many other countries non-European students can work more hours than in the Netherlands, according to research conducted by Nuffic. In the Netherlands, international students who are not from EU countries or European Economic Area (EEA) countries can only work 10 hours maximum per week during the academic year, or full-time during the summer vacation months. But even for this, international students must have a work permit that employers must apply for, which is apparently a bureaucratic nightmare. In countries like Finland, Ireland, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Switzerland, Slovenia and Germany, students from non-EU and non-EEA countries can be employed based solely on their student visas. The maximum number of hours students are permitted to work during the academic year also varies in these countries, from 25 hours per week in Finland to 14 hours per week in Germany. Sweden is the only country that allows students to work full-time throughout the year. In Belgium, Norway and Poland, students may only work during school vacation periods. 

Elsewhere, the TU’s Executive Board is enacting new regulations pertaining to the intake of international students. There will be fewer exemptions to the mandatory English-proficiency tests; more temporary housing units built; and earlier application deadlines. The new regulations are needed because the intake of international students is higher than expected, according to the TU. And this is especially important now that the university’s plans for new buildings are delayed. Currently more than half of all international students live in temporary housing units. The TU’s Education & Student Affairs (E&SA) department wants more temporary housing units built for students for the period 2009 to 2014, with one option for the location of these new housing units being the Technopolis industrial park. Also, the university will tighten its exemptions from mandatory English-language proficiency tests. Only prospective students from the United Kingdom, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada’s English-speaking provinces will be exempted from having to take these entry-level tests. Students from other countries who studied at English-language secondary schools could also be exempted. “These regulations will help ensure that we only get students who are proficient in English, and not those prospective students who just send their applications to hundreds of universities,” say E&SA director, Anka Mulder, “Such people are usually not serious candidates.”

A Delta 23 ‘Lifestyle’ feature asked: What do international students find strange about the Dutch? And what do they think about Dutch customs and habits? Billal Ahmad, an MSc student from Pakistan, said that living in Holland is a greater culture shock for Asians than it is for fellow Europeans. He found it a pity that such nice female Dutch students didn’t want to speak English with international students, but rather preferred to speak Dutch with Dutch guys. He wants to learn Dutch, in order to chat with the natives and learn more about Dutch culture, but he found the summer Dutch courses the TU offers much too expensive. He also found that Dutch TU students study a lot: “They don’t have rich social lives. They don’t mix with other people, and certainly not with foreigners, unless they happen to be your flat-mates.” All this could also have something to do with the environment in Delft, Ahmad believes: “If I was studying in Leiden, who knows, I might’ve had two or three girlfriends by now.” He also noticed that Dutch people do their own work, rather than dumping it on their subordinates. Ahmad was also impressed that Dutch professors ride their bikes to work: “You can’t tell if someone is a professor or just an ordinary employee. Dutch people don’t pat themselves on the back.” And what he also likes: the Dutch are punctual, and the road network is really good.

Finally, in the Delta 23’s ‘Books’ section, Delta editor Jos Wassink reviewed, ‘A Moral Climate’, by Michael S. Northcott. Northcott, who is a professor of ethics at the University of Edinburgh and also a priest, argues that not only is unlimited use of fossils fuels bad for the climate, it’s also a sin. Northcott’s subject is the moral and ethical issues relating to fossil fuel use and globalization. Ninety percent of the CO2 emissions produced by mankind come from Europe and North America, yet the consequences of climate change will hit Asia and Africa the hardest. How fair is that? How can we deal with this ‘inconvenient truth’? Northcott wields his Bible in an attempt to answer such questions. (Michael S. Northcott, ‘A Moral Climate: the ethics of global warming’, Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd, London, 2007. € 18,-) (DM)