Protesters take the streets against fine for long-term study

"The government's shit", "Piss off with your fine", "Let me study, not stagnate". These were some of the slogans in the banners and signs carried by students this Friday in a demonstration that gathered both flyer-distributing communists and students in suits and ties.

On a stage opposite The Hague Central Station, several people addressed the protesting crowd, encouraging them to chant slogans like "Fight, fight, fight, education is a right!"

Entire country
Hundreds of students from all over the country came to this protest. It takes them no effort to list reasons why people sometimes take longer to finish their studies. Some serve on the board of a study association for a year, while others get chronically ill, others are athletes, and others must deal with personal circumstances.

3-0 behind
Abdelkader Karbache addressed the press at the edges of the field. He is the chairman of the National Student Union and the driving force behind the protest. “We are not only here to protest the fine for students who supposedly take too long to graduate,” he says. “The government wants to cut a billion euros from higher education. That corresponds to two entire research universities or several universities of applied sciences. Even if the fine is lifted, we will still be 3-0 behind.” Karbache also took the stage to call the government's plans scandalous. According to him, many young people will stop studying or not even start because they cannot afford it. "The labour market is suffering from terrible shortages, yet the government is bullying students away," he sneered.

Strict
Karbache was pretty assertive, wondering why students let themselves be used as a piggy bank that politicians can smash. In his view, students are a small group that politicians assume nobody cares about anyway. “Let's be honest, they do have a point there, don't they? We let it all happen.” He mentioned, among other things, the low benefits for students compared to the high costs of rent (“for a shoebox”).

He called on everyone to take action and reminded them of the right to demonstrate, the right to vote and the minimum wage. “We didn’t get those because we asked for it. Our ancestors campaigned hard for it, they fought for it and sometimes they even died for it. That’s how important it is.”

The LSVb chair, Abdelkader Karbache. Photo: HOP

Bad luck bingo card
Other speakers included union leaders and a student with a “bad luck bingo card” including items like chronic illness and ADHD. This student says she already knows she will have to pay the fine. If any exceptions are granted, she will have to prove she has it all.

Eventually, the crowd started moving for a march through The Hague. Some left the protest at this point, but the demonstrators still formed a long line. Many left-wing slogans were heard, such as "Student struggles are class struggles."

The National Student Association (ISO) also participated in the protest, even though the organisation is usually less inclined to demonstrate. “I am very happy with the turnout”, said its chair, Mylou Miché. The political slogans did not bother her, even though ISO is politically neutral.

Police blockade
Police vans blocked the road almost at the end of the march. The officers wanted the demonstrators to end up on a different field than the one where they started, but the protesters wanted to return to their stage.

The organisers felt that their right to demonstrate was being violated. “They also sent a few students away from the field because it was too crowded”, grumbled one of the organisers. “Apparently, that is how it works in the Wilders cabinet.”

But after some back and forth, the vans moved aside and the students were allowed to continue. There seemed to be a miscommunication. “The demonstrators were stopped because they did not start the march at the place that had been agreed upon”, said a spokesperson for the police. “After consulting with the mayor, we've decided that they could continue their way to the starting point.”