The government believes landlords should be able to offer students short-term tenancy agreements. It also proposes allowing rents for properties in the city centre to rise. The Woonbond has criticised the plans.
Even after losing two court cases, VU University Amsterdam continues to charge international students a housing fee for arranging accommodation. TU Delft also charges a housing fee.
To ease the workload in education, the House of Representatives has proposed accrediting degree programmes once every eight to ten years instead of every six years. Education Minister Letschert is open to the idea, but wants to await the results of a study first. Currently, the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation checks the quality of degree programmes
Attacks during the war in Iran are affecting more than 20 universities. “Students who were previously attacked by their own regime are now being affected by Israeli and American bombs,” says Iran expert Peyman Jafari.
The government is calling on universities and universities of applied sciences to do more to combat antisemitism and is allocating €350,000 for this purpose. This follows a report by the taskforce on combating antisemitism, which states that Jewish students and staff are more likely to feel unsafe. TU Delft says that the recommendations largely align with existing measures.
Education on the Caribbean islands does not adequately prepare students coming to the Netherlands to study, warns the Education Council in a new report. Language skills, in particular, pose a major challenge: a good command of Dutch is essential for pupils wishing to study in the Netherlands. However, those heading to another Caribbean island or
The Education Inspectorate has once again warned that neither the NVAO, the higher education accreditation body, nor the Inspectorate itself can intervene at any stage if the quality of teaching on a course goes wrong. The examination boards only partially make up for this shortcoming.
A pilot project by the IT cooperative SURF aimed at phasing out American software has already prompted thirty institutions to take action. Around a thousand people are now using an alternative, and SURF is making room for more test users. Last November, SURF called on its education and research institutions to sign up for a
Trade unions AOb and FNV are calling for a 6-percent pay rise at universities, and for salaries to automatically rise in line with inflation from now on. They also want to improve the situation for pregnant employees.
