Tough choices

As a columnist, you sometimes have to make tough choices. Do I write about the shocking article in Delta about the lack of social security at TU Delft? Or about the letter (in Dutch) in which the CNV trade union asks the Minister of Education to intervene and dismiss the Executive Board? Or about the report from the Labour Inspectorate on workload, and the Minister’s threat of enforcement if there is still no serious improvement in a year’s time? About the precarious financial situation and the announced budget cuts? Or about something completely different, such as TU Delft’s Gender Equality statement?

Just when I thought I had made up my mind, the bombastic letter (in Dutch) from our Education Minister arrived, briskly announcing ‘tough’ measures to control the flow of international students: ‘I will continue the policy [of the previous Cabinet] and tighten it further’. This Minister once switched (in Dutch) from the CDA to the ChristenUnie political party ‘because the party at the time started working with the PVV, which clashed with his ideas and morals’. He seems to have made another turnaround.

The 11 page letter is solely about ‘reducing the anglicisation’, ‘limiting the international influx of students’, requiring educational institutions ‘to promote Dutch language proficiency for all students’, and ‘control’ and ‘enforce’ these points through a set of measures that will severely undermine the autonomy of universities. ‘This cabinet is taking a blunt axe to universities and colleges’, states the UNL universities association, which also questions whether all of this is even feasible legally.

Only one single sentence is devoted to the importance of knowledge migration for society

Only one single sentence is devoted to the importance of knowledge migration for society. The previous Education Minister, who laid the groundwork on the WIB (Bill on balanced internationalisation), was clear (in Dutch) on this point: ‘Educational institutions see internationalisation as one of the reasons why the Netherlands is internationally prominent in education and research. Attracting and retaining international talent also adds value to the Dutch knowledge economy and society as a whole’. You could agree or disagree with the proposal, but at least his careful considerations and arguments commanded respect.

The current Minister mainly focuses on the fact that ‘the majority of students leave after their studies’, and students who ‘are largely funded by the Dutch taxpayer’. Conveniently, he neglects to mention that the retention rate of an international with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in technology or IT is around 50%, and even around 60% among graduates from outside Europe. These sectors are crying out for people. And many of the graduates who return to their home countries will work on solving the great challenges we all face as global citizens: climate, sustainability, health, and poverty alleviation. Well spent tax money.

Tonight, I’m going to the Dutch opera. Most of the singers come from abroad. They are accompanied by an orchestra that consists largely of foreigners. No doubt they rehearse in English. Is this Cabinet going to make tough decisions here too? And above all, would that improve the quality of the music?