Omtzigt wants Dutch universities to have no English-taught programmes at all

Asked about his plans to reduce immigration to the Netherlands, Omtzigt said: “Almost all universities in this country offer degree programmes in English." His answer mentioned not only labour migration and asylum seekers but also study-related migration.

"Some programmes are almost exclusively attended by international students," he continued. “There are even universities that have more international students than Dutch students, Maastricht University being one of them.” Omtzigt has recently created a new party to join the upcoming national elections in the Netherlands, which are set to take place in November following the collapse of the cabinet in July. His party is called "New Social Contract". According to a recent poll, his party would score 43 seats in the Dutch Parliament if the election were held in August. 

Van den Brink then asked him what he intends to do about the number of international students in the Netherlands. “Dutch should be the language of instruction at Dutch universities”, was his reply. In his view, international students wishing to study here should learn Dutch first.

More radical
This is a more radical position than the one he has defended as a Member of Parliament. He's previously left Master’s degree programmes aside (link in Dutch, Ed.), choosing instead to focus on the Bachelor’s level, defending that those should be taught in Dutch “with room for exceptions of up to 20 percent of the programmes.”

In the lead-up to the elections, he is thus expanding his position, although he also concedes that universities could continue teaching in English “on an occasional basis.” On the radio show, he said: “It’s not a forbidden language. But the standard language of instruction should be our own national language. Also, bear in mind that this is of profound cultural importance. Look at Friesland, for example. When you stop using a language at university, as well as in arts and culture, it becomes a regional language.”

He thinks that if Dutch were to become the language of instruction again, fewer foreigners would come here to study. “That means things will need to be done gradually, as some of the teachers are native English-speakers. So, I wouldn't foresee doing that in one year. A reform of this nature could be implemented over three to four years.”

Student financing
Omtzigt is also critical of the fact that student financing is available to international students, now that the basic student grant has been re-introduced. “And we pay this to all EU students”, he stated. It should be noted that this is not entirely correct: students from the EU are only eligible to the basic student grant if they have lived in the Netherlands for several years or if have a side job for a certain number of hours.

Additionally, Omtzigt would like to curb labour-related migration. He believes it is unfair that foreign employees should pay less tax than their Dutch colleagues. Highly-skilled migrants get up to 30 percent of their salary tax-free for five years. The idea behind this tax cut is to attract more highly-skilled workers to the Netherlands. Omtzigt argues that this policy generates problems to the housing market, as these expats can afford higher rents.