How many English-taught programmes will Dutch universities cut?

Last Tuesday, the political parties NSC, VVD and BBB passed a motion urging the caretaking government to rapidly reduce the number of English-taught programmes offered by higher education institutions. The Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf, has been given eight weeks to work out a plan with said institutions.

This plan must include concrete measures “that each institution will take to significantly reduce the proportion of English-taught programmes”, taking into account “the labour market, student accommodation, and regional interests”.

Large majority
The motion was passed with a large majority. NSC, VVD and BBB hold 51 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. The motion was equally supported by the far-right party PVV, which has 37 seats, and the left-wing parties SP and Partij voor de Dieren.

Minister Dijkgraaf did not oppose the motion. “I see it as a nice starting point for the conversations I’m having and will continue to have”, he stated in a debate held last week. He promised that, within eight weeks, the associations representing higher education institutions would share their plan of action with him.

“After that, I will inform the House about the outcome as soon as possible”, Dijkgraaf added. “Based on the institutions’ plans, we can weigh up whether they are showing enough ambition.”

Meanwhile, the outgoing minister is working on a bill that aims to find a "balance" for the internationalisation of higher education in the Netherlands. He is planning to submit the bill to the Parliament before the summer.

The motion passed on Tuesday posits that 78 percent of all Master’s programmes and 30 percent of all Bachelor’s programmes are currently taught entirely in English. This matches the available figures for university programmes rougly. At universities of applied sciences, eight percent of Bachelor’s degrees are offered in English.