Short news
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 every six years. A panel of specialists then reviews theses and other paperwork and speaks with students, lecturers and employers. The examination board must also account for its actions during this accreditation process.
A long-standing complaint is that this process takes up a great deal of time in the education sector. The House of Representatives agrees, having spoken out on Thursday in favour of simplifying the accreditation system. Could the inspections not take place less frequently, for example every eight to ten years?
Investigation is already ongoing
Education Minister Rianne Letschert did not dismiss the proposal. Her ministry is already investigating how the quality assurance system can be improved. “Extending the accreditation period could be a possibility,” said Letschert, “but I do want to wait for the results of the investigation first.”
In recent years, there has been much discussion about a new accreditation system. The idea was to leave it more up to the institutions themselves, but that never got off the ground. A year ago, former Education Minister Eppo Bruins scrapped the plan. That is why the question remains open.
HOP, Olmo Linthorst
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 to the United States must, in fact, be proficient in Papiamento or English.
The islands face specific vulnerabilities, the authors write: the schools are small, are located far from the (European) Netherlands and do not have the same access to resources and support. And this has consequences: around a quarter of young people from the Caribbean Netherlands who go on to study in the European Netherlands drop out early, mainly due to language problems.
Please for more Dutch teachers on the islands
The Education Council is therefore calling on the Minister of Education, Culture and Science to improve education. It is important that this is done in a way that suits the specific situation of the islands. Applying the same rules across the whole of the Netherlands sounds fair, but in practice it leads to inequality.
Among other things, the Council advocates for additional investment in Dutch teachers on the islands. In addition, schools themselves could offer supplementary Dutch lessons to pupils who wish to study in the Netherlands. (HOP, NB)
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 pilot. Did they want to help make colleges and universities less reliant on American software? Currently, tech companies in the US can bring education in the Netherlands to a standstill at the touch of a button.
There was room for two thousand test users, and the first thousand are now working with the alternative Nextcloud, says SURF. They are sharing their files with colleagues, making video calls, chatting with one another, and may soon be able to use a built-in AI assistant.
Twelve universities
The German Nextcloud works with open standards, making it possible to use it alongside competing programmes. This reduces users’ dependence on a single provider. Nextcloud is also open source: anyone can view the source code and suggest improvements if they wish.
In recent months, thirty SURF members have signed up for the pilot. Participants include four universities of applied sciences, twelve universities, six research institutions and two university medical centres. SURF does not wish to name names, but it is known that TU Delft is taking part. Also, staff can use Nextcloud to store data.
The IT cooperative is now expanding the pilot. “We’ve noticed there’s a lot of interest in gaining practical experience with Nextcloud,” says spokesperson Tom Hoven. The pilot will run until the end of this year. After that, it remains to be seen whether Nextcloud deserves a place in the standard software offering for education and research institutions.
HOP, Olmo Linthorst
TU Delft employees who voice concerns about sensitive partnerships, governance decisions, or workplace conduct often find themselves on their own. That is the view of three organisations that believe things need to change. In an open meeting on 22 April, they aim to explore how.
The organisers of ‘Our right to integrity and safety’ on Wednesday afternoon 22 April, are TU Delft for Integrity, the FNV trade union and the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC). The former is an initiative by staff and students that has previously made its voice heard, for example through an open letter regarding TU Delft’s policy on Israel. The ELSC provides legal support to the Palestinian solidarity movement in Europe.
Interactive session
During an ‘interactive session’, the organisers wish to explore how a ‘safer and more responsible university environment’ can be created in which ‘integrity is actively protected’. In addition to staff and students from TU Delft for Integrity, trade union representatives and legal experts will also be present. They are calling on other employees and students to join them.
According to the organisers, many employees ‘care deeply about ethical responsibility, human rights, and responsible collaboration’, but often find themselves on their own when ‘concerns are raised about sensitive partnerships, governance decisions, or workplace conduct’.
During the meeting, they aim to discuss how trade unions and legal advice services can support staff, as well as how institutional transparency and accountability can prevent conflicts. This should lead to a joint final statement, and ultimately to ‘stronger support structures, and concrete proposals for change within the university’.
- What: Our right to integrity and safety.
- When: 22 April, 3.00 PM – 4.00 OM, followed by a question-and-answer session.
- Where: Ampère Lecture Hall (36.HB.01.670), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS).
- More information: You can register here.
Scientific publications are increasingly available free of charge to everyone. But universities warn that this shift towards ‘open access’ is being held back by VAT rules, following a court case they lost.
The Dutch Tax Administration has won a court case concerning the VAT rate for scientific journals: when are they allowed to charge the lower rate and when must they apply the higher rate? For a journal subscription, you pay the lower rate: not 21 per cent, but 9 per cent.
Revenue model turned around
With ‘open access’, the publishers’ revenue model is turned on its head. Universities no longer pay to read the journals, but to publish in them. Those articles then become available to everyone free of charge.
However, according to the Tax Administration, a different VAT rate (9 per cent) applies to ‘reading’ than to ‘publishing’ (21 per cent). The court has agreed with this, as evidenced by a recent ruling against the ICT cooperative SURF, which manages the subscriptions.
Contradictory
VAT makes the transition to open access more expensive. The sums involved are substantial. In 2020, knowledge institutions paid 62 million euros for subscriptions and publication rights.
UNL considers the VAT rules to be contradictory. “This places an unnecessary burden on researchers and institutions, whilst the government actually wants to stimulate innovation and knowledge sharing.”
(HOP, BB)
The government is to pay compensation to students who were subjected to discriminatory checks and home visits by the student finance body DUO. €80 million has been set aside for this purpose.
In its efforts to combat abuse of the basic grant for students living away from home, DUO targeted students from migrant backgrounds in particular. This constituted indirect discrimination, as revealed in 2023 by an investigation by the Higher Education Press Agency (HOP) in collaboration with Investico, NOSop3 and the daily newspaper Trouw. It led to an apology from the government and the reimbursement of all fines and recovered basic grants.
4 years of waiting time
Compensation will now be added to this, Minister Rianne Letschert has written to the House of Representatives. The government is liable for the damage suffered by students as a result of the inappropriate home visits.
Due to the need for bespoke solutions, the process could take until 2030. Of the 80 million euros involved, half is earmarked for implementation. Of that amount, four million is set aside for independent legal support for current and former students. (HOP, BB)
Executive Board President Ingrid Thijssen has, as of April 1, become Chair of the advisory committee of the National Growth Fund, which in recent years has also awarded funding to projects from TU Delft. The committee operates under special regulations designed to prevent conflicts of interest.
The advisory committee typically includes leading figures from both the business sector and academia. Thijssen’s appointment fits that pattern. She has succeedeed Rianne Letschert, who was appointed Minister of Education last February. Prior to that, just like Thijssen now, she was Chair of the Executive Board, specifically at Maastricht University.
Cultured meat
The National Growth Fund was established by the Dutch government to invest in ‘projects that contribute to the sustainable earning capacity of the Netherlands’. For example, in March this year TU Delft, together with research partners, received funding for the Cellular Agriculture project, which includes research on cultured meat. Previously, TU Delft received Growth Fund support for projects focused on making aviation more sustainable and building climate‑neutral ships. In June 2023, TU Delft was even a partner in 10 of the 18 approved proposals.
To prevent conflicts of interest, the advisory committee follows a formal set of rules. These stipulate, among other things, that committee members must declare any involvement with applicants before advisory rounds begin, and that they are excluded from participating in an advisory round if personal interests are at stake.
For anyone struggling to find Easter eggs this weekend, here’s a special tip. A pair of peregrine falcons has built a nest in the Architecture Tower. There are already three eggs in it, but who knows – there might be more in the coming days. “Here’s to the next one,” says peregrine falcon manager Henk Drevijn.
The first egg was laid last Saturday. Since then, two more have been added. “On average, there’s a gap of about two to three days between eggs being laid,” explains Henk Drevijn. “And a clutch often consists of four eggs.” Drevijn started out as a building manager, but his access badge now reads ‘peregrine falcon manager’. A title he wears with pride: “I think it’s such a special bird, a truly wonderful symbol for the Faculty of Architecture.”
The peregrine falcon isn’t sitting on the nest all the time at the moment. “Only once all the eggs have been laid does the actual brooding begin,” says Drevijn. “That way, all the eggs hatch at roughly the same time.” It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch, and another 40 days until the young peregrine falcons are big enough to make their first flight.
Want to share in the joy of the peregrine falcon? You can follow the developments day and night on various webcams. A warning from Drevijn with the upcoming exam week in mind: “Be warned, it can be addictive!”
The House of Representatives has asked the government to explore whether home-sharing could be made easier by reducing the frequency of permit requirements. This could help alleviate the shortage of rooms, including for students.
In most municipalities, it is not permitted to share a home without authorisation. Often, a maximum of two people are allowed to rent a house together. This also applies to students; setting up a student house is only possible if the landlord holds a licence. This is also the case in Delft, although various local council parties would like to make it easier to share accommodation, for example through ‘friends contracts’. With friends contracts, several flatmates can live in the same house under a single tenancy agreement.
Rent a property with three people
According to MP Robin van Leijen (D66), given the current housing shortage, it is essential to make more efficient use of the existing housing stock. He points to the municipality of Utrecht as an example, where the rules are slightly more flexible.
There, you can rent a property with two other people without needing to apply for a licence. This means you can easily share the kitchen, living room and bathroom, whilst each of you has your own room and tenancy agreement.
The House of Representatives now wants to investigate whether such a relaxation of the rules is also possible at national level. A motion on this matter, tabled by Van Leijen, was unanimously adopted on Tuesday.
Peter Boelhouwer, professor of housing systems at the Faculty of Architecture, has previously argued that strict regulations are exacerbating the housing shortage. As an example, he cited a student in Nijmegen who had inherited a house. “She wanted to share the property with two friends, but this was not permitted because it would have meant three separate households, and the council would not allow that.” (HOP, NB)
In a heated dispute with her department, a law student had, according to Radboud University, behaved so badly that she was banned from campus. However, the Council of State does not consider this justified.
A student in Nijmegen was at loggerheads with her department over flexible study arrangements. The university issued her with a warning for allegedly communicating with staff in an “intimidating, coercive and disrespectful manner”. When she brought her mother to the student services desk, she was escorted from the premises by the police, the judgment states.
She later received a second warning for allegedly shouting at staff over the phone and threatening to “sue the university into bankruptcy”.
According to the university, she continued to bombard the study advisor and staff at the student desk with intimidating phone calls and emails. After she allegedly threatened to come by, the student desk was even temporarily closed. Ultimately, Radboud University denied the student access to teaching and the teaching buildings for three months.
Insufficiently substantiated
Although the judges found that inappropriate communication had taken place, the documents do not show that the student actually made personal threats against staff members. Precisely because the campus ban was intended to protect physical safety within the educational environment, that threat should have been substantiated more thoroughly. (HOP, HC)
