Minister of Education sticks to austerity measures

After 15,000 to 20,000 people demonstrated in The Hague yesterday, the Dutch Minister of Education, Eppo Bruins, tweeted that his position concerning the austerity measures remains the same. "I'm not going to beat around the bush: I will not promise extra euros or reverse the measures," he said. "We want to keep government finances healthy. We are ensuring that people have more money in their wallets and we can invest more in defence."

"Close to my heart"
The minister therefore ignores all the signs asking the government to prioritise books over bombs. He reiterated that the government needs to make difficult and painful choices. "Research and education are close to my heart and I want to make those choices as wisely as possible."

The minister stressed that is not cutting everything. There will still be resources for higher education and research. "I want to emphasise that we'll still be able to do a lot."

As for the fine for students who take longer to graduate, he will consider the matter and get back to it early next year.  “I have heard many stories of students who are in situations so tough they are forced to study for longer. I want to be aware of such situations.”

Tonight, the House of Representatives will debate the budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science for 2025. The fine will not be discussed as it would only come into effect a year later. But it is one of the measures the opposition wants to reverse.

Senate
How the coalition parties will respond remains to be seen. They have 30 of the 75 seats in the Senate, which must also approve the budget. The fact that the right-wing opposition party JA21 is also opposed to the plans makes it more difficult to find a majority there.

Rigt-wing parties FvD and SGP each have two Senate seats, 50Plus and the local parties (OPNL) have one. Even if they support the government, there are still two votes too few for a majority of 38 seats.