Opening of the academic year: cheer, protest and an unwavering Minister

Cheer and anticipation for the students who get to start this academic year. They were invited to the opening of TU Delft’s academic year in the Aula, which included vice-rector Rob Mudde, ceos, student council representatives and TU Delft’s ‘own rap song’.

The ‘alternative opening’ of a broad coalition of universities, universities of applied sciences and unions was over by then. In Utrecht on Monday morning from 11 AM, speeches included the president of the Universities of the Netherlands and the president of the National Student Union, TU Delft student Abdelkader Karbache.

Their actions are urgent. On the third Tuesday of September, the new government will present its budget for the coming year. In an outline agreement, coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB have already agreed to make substantial cuts that will impact students and higher education institutions. A financial penalty for students who take too long to complete their studies, restrictions on the influx of foreign students, scrapping national sector plan funding… these measures amount to almost a billion euros, depending on how exactly they will be implemented.

Criticism

It is hardly surprising that the plans have met with fierce criticism from the universities and the rest of the sector. They calculate that up to 5,000 jobs are at risk, including the positions of 1,200 young researchers, and are threatening legal action. Universities of applied sciences are also opposing the plans, describing the higher education cuts as “turning the world on its head”.

On Thursday, Education Minister Eppo Bruins replied (in Dutch) to parliamentary questions on the issue by the opposition GreenLeft-PvdA party. “I understand the concerns raised by these cuts”, he writes and goes on to assure them that “in formulating government policy, I will take all signals into account”.

Even so, he is going ahead with the budget cuts. These include scrapping the funding of ‘sector plans’ on which universities collaborate at national level: a cutback in excess of 200 million euros.

‘Aware’

“I am aware of the value of sector plans and I too hear the signals from the field about their relevance and necessity”, Bruins writes. “But at the same time, financial choices have to be made to meet the budgetary requirements in the outline for our coalition agreement.”

The cuts will first be set out in the government’s programme and then in Bruins’ own policy agenda, due to be announced on Budget Day. “That’s where I will present my plans and how the cuts will fall.”

To date he has defended the cuts by emphasising the government’s determination to safeguard public finances and reduce the burden on households and businesses.

‘Woke’

PVV, the largest coalition party, previously gave more ideological grounds for cutting higher education funding. Without providing underlying arguments, the party insisted in a debate that ‘woke culture’ had come to dominate university life, with political activism taking precedence over scientific integrity. “We are happy to say those days are now over.” The previous Education Minister, Robbert Dijkgraaf, described (in Dutch) the PVV’s statements as “unfortunate” and indicative of a desire to settle scores.

How does Bruins view this situation? “The words used have no bearing on my own views”, is his response, without making it entirely clear whether he means the PVV’s words, Dijkgraaf’s or both.

HOP, Bas Belleman 

Translation: Taalcentrum-VU