House of Representatives: "Let's talk before doing away with small programmes"

Programmes with few students are relatively expensive and always run the risk of having to close their doors. Sometimes, it's a shame when that happens because a certain expertise disappears from the Netherlands. With the major austerity measures against education and research in prospect, that risk has become even greater.

Member of Parliament Claire Martens-America (VVD) says the Netherlands is suffering from a lack of "national direction’. According to her, neither the universities nor the ministry have a clear overview of which institutions offer which programmes. Educational institutions themselves are ultimately responsible for this, according to a motion that Martens-America submitted during the debate on the education budget. However, it would be a shame if programmes would close as a result of a lack of mutual consultation.

Coordinate small programmes together
In her motion, she requests the government to review the national range of programmes alongside Dutch educational institutions “and coordinate them together”. This would prevent “courses from disappearing from the Netherlands without coordination”. This motion was adopted on Tuesday afternoon. Of the four government parties, only PVV did not support it, but opposition parties still ensured a majority.

Minister Bruins agrees with it. “I share the wish behind the motion”, he said. “I also want to prevent courses from disappearing without coordination. So yes, I will discuss this with the educational institutions.”

However, it's not true that there is no coordination among research universities. After all, they have drawn up sector plans in which they jointly consider their education and research. There were plans to offer joint Bachelor's programmes in French and German and strengthen mutual cooperation between Dutch programmes. 

The four government parties initially wanted to cut the funds for such collaborations, but after fierce protests from the universities (and the announcement of a lawsuit), Minister Eppo Bruins decided that he could slim down the budget differently. 

Cutbacks on the slope
The proposed budget, with its massive cutbacks, is in danger of failing in the Senate, where the government does not have a majority. A group of opposition parties is looking to reverse 1.3 billion euros from the cutbacks, in exchange for their support. 

One of the ways the government intends to save money is by introducing a fine for students who take longer to graduate than most. During the debate, SP and GroenLinks-PvdA suggested finding an alternative for this measure outside the education budget, but a motion to that effect was rejected on Tuesday.

Another exciting motion was withdrawn. BBB warned that the intention to limit the influx of foreign students may be detrimental to “the quality of life, prosperity, and the innovation and earning capacity of regions with shrinking populations or at the border with other countries. This includes Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Limburg and Zeeland”. The motion says the government should take this into account, but BBB seems to be waiting for the plans to be worked out.

Spam campaign
The education unions are closely following the negotiations with the opposition parties. They emphasise that all austerity measures should be thrown in the garbage, not some of them. To emphasise this wish, a "spam campaign" has been devised in the run-up to a crucial debate on Thursday, December 5, when the House of Representatives will vote on the cuts to the education budget. A ready-made email is available on FNV's website, addressed to CDA, D66, JA21, SGP and the ChristenUnie – the parties looking to reverse some of the cuts. The union is asking everyone who agrees that all austerity measures should go to send this email to a representative before Thursday's debate.