Appeal to politicians: ‘Do not undermine education’

The Dutch House of Representatives will debate the national finances on Wednesday and Thursday, after which the members will go into recess until the parliamentary elections, set to take place on October 29. An appeal by the Association of Dutch Universities (UNL), the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, the MBO Council and the national student organisations demonstrates that they still hope MPs might be able to do something about the austerity measures affecting higher education. In their view, it is galling that this year's budget includes even more cuts to the higher education budget, as if the austerity measures announced last year were not enough.

Inflation
It's all about inflation. The cabinet has proposed to only partially compensate for rising wages and prices in tertiary education. Vocational colleges, universities of applied sciences and research universities will therefore have to bear the rising costs themselves, while primary and secondary education will receive the full 'wage and price adjustment'. This is expected to save tens of millions of euros, in addition to the budget cuts already announced by the current cabinet. 

The institutions point out that the measure will have a lasting effect. Even if the government adjusts funding for inflation in later years, a backlog will still remain that can only be made up with additional funds.

Insidious
‘Colleges, vocational education institutions and universities are already dealing with the consequences of declining student numbers and severe budget cuts,’ they emphasise. ‘These insidious budget cuts are now adding to that, leaving institutions with structurally fewer resources to continue to offer the same quality and breadth of education and research.’

Some programmes are at risk of disappearing, they warn. ‘For young people, the disappearance of a programme means that they are forced to move abroad for their studies, and students who move abroad often do not return.’

Virtually all political parties in the Netherlands acknowledge the problem of declining student numbers and the disappearance of programmes. In their election manifestos, almost all of them advocate for more stable funding for higher education.

On the radar
It is well known that tertiary education is fed up with the government's cutbacks. ‘But not everyone is aware of the hidden budget cuts in wage and price adjustments,’ says a spokesperson for UNL, the university association. ‘These budget cuts are not self-evident because some education sectors are excluded from them. It would be nice to be exempted from it as well, as we are already being subjected to many austerity measures.’