Bruins will force higher education institutions to cooperate

Fewer students, major budget cuts, programmes with few students disappearing, labour shortages, and young researchers struggling. These are just some of the issues higher education is going through right now and the Minister of Education, Eppo Bruins, believes that "strategic choices" must be made to deal with them. The minister wrote a detailed letter to the Lower House outlining his vision for the future, in general lines.

Bruins would like the system to become less market-oriented, with educational institutions not setting up trendy programmes to attract as many students as possible. Instead, they would determine which degree programmes to offer after mutual consultation. This way, the government could withdraw from the situation a little more.

Conflicts
It is not self-evident at all that educational institutions will be aligned, especially when they are dealing with substantial budget cuts. Maastricht University has started recruiting foreign students again and many universities of applied sciences are conflicted about supporting regions with a shrinking population.

Bruins is aware of these issues. In his letter, he says competition is increasing. "More degree programmes have been started than closed in recent years", he notes. NHe wants to gather institutions at the same table nevertheless.

Amending the law
He proposes to amend the law to force institutions to engage in mutual consultation. This means that universities and universities of applied sciences would no longer be allowed to start or close programmes without talking to other institutions first.

This is not an entirely new idea. The minister acknowledges that some people have already been talking about "self-management" and mutual coordination, which could take several forms. "This is a good move which I wholeheartedly support and would like to perpetuate," states Bruins. However, he would like to make things less non-committal.

The details are far from finalised, however. The minister wants to determine what these consultations would look like in consultation with universities of applied sciences and research universities. Regardless of what form they take, the minister wants to preserve degree programmes that have few students but are important to society or the region. This would mean that a Dutch-taught programme would not be shut down just because too few students enrol in it.

In addition, the minister would like universities and universities of applied sciences with good educational programmes to "capitalise" on opportunities for the economy and society. In his view, the system should encourage this, although he didn't specify how.

Less interference
At the same time, he says he would like to be less involved and not concern himself with issues such as workload, academic integrity, diversity, inclusion and social safety. The universities and universities of applied sciences could take care of such matters themselves, without dedicated budgets and regulations from The Hague. "Over the next few years, I will gradually reduce the government's ad hoc stimulating role in this regard," he says. He also wants to reduce the administrative burden on the institutions. Bruins believes that adjusted financing is also appropriate for these matters, hence his desire to re-evaluate "the entire mechanism by which the government budget is established". He is particularly concerned with "predictability, stability and cooperation."

Accessibility
A footnote indicates that this could have consequences for the accessibility of education: it may be less easy for students to continue studying in the future if they wish to do so. Bruins wants to "look at the consequences of upward pressure and of funding students who transfer to a higher level of education and students who drop out."

The term "upward pressure" indicates an underlying political conviction that too many students want to obtain the highest possible degree: they prefer going to university over a university of applied sciences and going to a university of applied sciences over vocational education. The previous Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf, wanted to turn this "ladder" into a "fan", emphasising the equivalence of these three educational levels. 

Bruins says something similar. "It would be good for students if there were less emphasis on maximum self-development and upward pressure," he writes in his letter to the House of Representatives. The difference is that Bruins seemingly intends to enforce this through financing, though he has not specified how yet.

Postdocs
Despite the budget cuts and the announcement that he wants to interfere less with institutions' policies, Bruins also writes about young researchers' careers. "They are the next generation of top scientists working on research and innovation to solve social issues." Then don't cut their funding, Bruins' critics would shout. The minister does not anticipate that criticism, however. He notes that postdocs are struggling more than most as their careers are insecure and they have "too many temporary appointments".

According to the minister, the ball is in the universities' court. It is up to them to come up with a solution for young researchers when negotiating the collective labour agreement (CAO). This is one of the few subjects for which Bruins has specifically allocated funds.

Funds
Forty million euros will go to PhD candidates, postdocs and new assistant professors. The previous cabinet came up with grants for started, looking to give them some "peace and quiet" and reduce their workloads, but Bruins is doing things differently. He writes that he is "not setting up a separate instrument" for distributing these funds. Universities are free to use the money as they see fit. "This keeps the administrative burden on universities to a minimum," the minister says. However, he does want to know how they intend to improve the position of young researchers with this money. To help reduce the workload, he will give universities an additional 25 million euros annually until 2028. This money will be given in addition to the remainder of the starter and incentive grants: 78 million euros annually until 2031.

Reception?
How Bruins' plans will be received remains to be seen. They involve major changes, especially in financing. The opposition will undoubtedly sink its teeth into them, but not everyone in the coalition will be equally positive.

Coalition party VVD is at odds with the letter because it has always argued for stricter controls and performance agreements in higher education. The party recently asked the minister critical questions because some universities of applied sciences are abandoning the binding study advice. In addition, the party has encouraged competition among universities of applied sciences in the past. 

PVV also wants to exert more control over policy, especially those of universities with regard to issues like diversity, climate change and quiet rooms. Or when an "undesirable" guest speaker comes to campus. However, many of Bruins' proposals still require consultation, exploration and research. He may be able to persuade the coalition partners to wait for the outcome.