House of Representatives approves education cuts for 2026

D66, VVD and CDA have jointly agreed that the new coalition will reverse the education cuts made by the previous government. However, this will not happen until next year. The cuts scheduled for 2026 will go ahead as planned.

The largest opposition party, GroenLinks-PvdA, attempted to scrap the cuts for this calendar year as well and tabled an amendment to the budget of Education, Culture and Science. That amendment was rejected. Consequently, GroenLinks-PvdA ultimately voted against the education budget.

However, the minority cabinet received support from, among others, the small Christian parties, JA21, the PVV and the seven PVV defectors (the Markuszower group). BBB also voted in favour. This is important for support in the Senate, where BBB, with 12 of the 75 seats, remains a powerful party. The education budget is therefore no longer at risk there.

Animal testing

Of particular note is a VVD amendment that has been adopted, which once again permits animal testing on monkeys. On the initiative of the Party for the Animals, the budget for experiments on monkeys at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre was to be phased out. The funds were to be redirected towards alternatives that do not involve laboratory animals. That proposal was adopted last year by a narrow majority of just one vote. However, the current House of Representatives has now reversed this decision. Experiments on monkeys will therefore not have to be discontinued.

Institutional rate for Ukrainian students

Some proposals were also put forward but rejected. What about, for example, the tuition fees for Ukrainian students studying here? As Ukraine is not part of the European Economic Area, Ukrainians are officially required to pay the high institutional rate of around €10,000 to €20,000 per year. Due to the war, universities and colleges initially did not charge this fee, but most stopped offering this discount because the government was unwilling to reimburse the costs.

The new coalition is considering changing this policy, but it has not yet reached that stage. An attempt by GroenLinks-PvdA to provide support to Ukrainian students as early as the coming academic year has been rejected.

Children of benefit recipients

The SP had proposed setting aside funds to cover the student loan debts of children whose parents had been affected by the Dutch childcare benefit scandal. These children have often helped their parents by taking out additional loans from DUO. Recently, children’s ombudsmen have sounded the alarm over the student loan debts this has caused, but the government is dragging its feet.

Moreover, a majority in the House of Representatives has no intention of reimbursing these student loans. The SP proposed offsetting these debts with funds still available from the resolution of the benefits scandal, but that proposal was rejected.

HOP, Bas Belleman