Parliament wants mandatory internship remuneration to be enshrined in law

The outgoing Minister of Education, Gouke Moes, had already announced his intention to introduce a mandatory internship allowance in October. "The goal is very simple: we are going to arrange an internship allowance for every intern," he said at the time. This was said during a debate on vocational education, however. The minister refrained from making any promises regarding higher professional education and university education, but he hoped to be able to arrange it "broadly".

Currently, only 42 per cent of vocational education students receive an internship allowance. For higher professional education students, the figure rises to 75 per cent. About 65 per cent of university students doing compulsory internships are compensated financially, as are 91 per cent of students doing voluntary internships.

Fair
Sandra Beckerman, an MP representing the Socialist Party, considers this situation unfair, so she submitted a motion proposing that an internship allowance should be mandatory for all levels of education. This would "not only be fair," but also make programmes "for much-needed professionals" more attractive, according to the motion. It does not specify a mandatory minimum amount. The motion was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The right-wing parties VVD, PVV, FvD, and JA21 voted against it.