Internationalization Act is delayed again

The (now fallen) cabinet would like to see bachelor programs at colleges and especially universities become more Dutch-speaking again. To this end, there would actually be a "test of foreign-language education.

This caused great unrest in higher education: which English-language programs would soon be required to switch to Dutch? Resistance swelled, particularly in the border regions, and the business community underscored the major shortages in the labor market.

So the Lower House decided that the language test should disappear from the bill. At least, for current training programs. New courses must always demonstrate their usefulness and necessity before they are allowed to start. And soon, new ‘foreign-language’ programs (or foreign-language paths within programs) will also have to explain why they are not Dutch-language.

Autumn
You would think: scrap the language test and that's it, the ‘Internationalization in Balance’ bill can go back to the House of Representatives. But that's not how it works, Minister Bruins writes in a letter. The bill will have such a different content that it has to go to the Council of State again for advice, he states. According to him, that will not happen until the fall.

Moreover, there is another problem: there must be a good overview of the “existing educational offering,” including foreign-language pathways within programs. Otherwise it will soon be unclear which courses are ‘new’ and therefore have to pass the language test.

Out of hands
Bruins once again warns of the consequences if he removes the language test for existing programs from the bill. “By doing this, I actually give away my ability to intervene in the existing foreign-language offerings,” the minister writes.

The idea now is for universities and colleges of higher education to determine through “self-direction” which courses must be in Dutch or another language. The ministry could make administrative agreements, but otherwise remains at a distance. 

Despite this self-direction, which the institutions have already begun, Bruins emphasizes “how important it is and remains to keep direction on the internationalization of our education, to keep the system sustainable and affordable.” He points to the slightly increased cost of study financing for European students.

Bruins said in a recent interview with the HOP that the Minister of Education should have less power. This is consistent with a language policy in which the minister largely hands off that control.