Dutch under pressure at university

Dutch language under pressure at universities

 
The Dutch language is increasingly being supplanted by English at universities. Less than a third of the students indicate that their study is entirely in Dutch, according to the research report De Staat van het Nederlands. Half of the Dutch-language students surveyed (48.5 per cent) use both Dutch and English in their studies. 14.3 percent follow education entirely in English and less than one third (28.1 percent) do everything in Dutch.

^{Students working on a project at Industrial Design Engineering. (Photo: Dalia Madi)}

Dutch students do not seem to mind. A majority (61 per cent) does not mind languages other than Dutch being used in non-language subjects.

Nevertheless, the Englishisation of higher education has long been the subject of sometimes fierce debate. There is now a bill up for approval in the Senate that forces educational institutions to demonstrate the added value of English-language education. If they fail to do so, they would have to switch back to Dutch. The bill will not be discussed until there is a new cabinet. (HOP, Josefine van Enk)