Passing time in a pointless lecture

In 2022, universities and universities of applied sciences were celebrating: they had finally been promised structural investments in higher education. The administrative agreement signed that year promised 10 years of increased funding. One election later, the celebrations are over. Instead, there are protests and strikes against the planned budget cuts.

These cuts will inevitably affect the quality of education. It doesn’t exactly improve a lecture when the lecturer is worried about the future of their research – or too overworked to do much more than reuse last year’s slides. Less money for support staff and student assistants will only make things worse. And that’s if the courses are still being taught at all – in an effort to cut costs, programmes are being shut down and faculties merged. It’s often the smaller programmes and courses that are hit hardest, even though, in my experience, that’s where the best teaching is done.

There’s not many things worse than a lecture where you’re only there to fill a seat

For now, most lectures won’t be scrapped entirely, but I do expect the quality to decline. Not because professors and lecturers want this, but because they no longer have the time or facilities to do it well. And there’s not many things worse than a lecture where you’re only there to fill a seat, which is only more likely to occur given the budget cuts. In that case, it’s helpful to have a backup plan – a list of things you can do to fill the time. Here are five suggestions to get you started.

1. Scroll nostalgically through old course catalogues. Remember when you could study Earth Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam? When Utrecht University still offered Religious Studies? When Leiden University (in Dutch) had a degree in African Studies?
2. Do some online shopping. Since you’re there doing nothing anyway, you might as well pick out a new dress. Some of the newest generation of students have student grants again, so they have a bit more budget. If you don’t end up learning much, at least you can look like you did.
3. Learn a language on Duolingo. Language degrees are being cut – like German, French, Islam and Arabic, Italian, and Celtic Studies at Utrecht University – or being merged, like at Leiden University (in Dutch), where French, German, and Italian have been rolled into a single bachelor’s in European Languages and Cultures. You’ll have to take matters into your own hands.
4. Apply for one of the remaining student assistant positions. Act quickly – there aren’t many vacancies left. And you’ll need some luck as the course still has to exist. But if you do get hired, it can be a fun and valuable experience. Plus, you’ll get some practice dealing with an unmanageable workload. #lifeskills
5. Watch Suits on Netflix. A legal series might not seem like the most obvious choice, but if universities take the Government to court for breaching the administrative agreement, real life might just catch up with the plot. Bonus: the students sitting behind you can watch along. That keeps them entertained too.

So yes, we’ll find ways to entertain ourselves. But really, we’d rather be in lectures that don’t require distraction. And that’s also the kind of teaching lecturers would rather give. But that takes something we’re currently short on: investment.