The bill was not just about the influx of foreign students, but also about the position of the Dutch language. Programmes would only be allowed to be offered in English if the ‘added value’ could be proven and if NVAO, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders, had given permission. Moreover, institutes could introduce entry restrictions for study programmes in English.
The fact that the proposal has been taken off the table, Rianne Letschert, president of Maastricht University, says, is “good news. As UM, we think it’s important that the accessibility of education is not limited by imposing language requirements.” At the same time, she understands all too well that universities, such as Delft and Amsterdam, may get into problems due to the enormous increase of internationals while they have no way of regulating their numbers. Letschert therefore feels that a general bill that applies to all institutes is not going to work. “This bill was a one-size-fits-all spread across the entire education sector.” Universities differ, she said, if only because of location, profile and kind of education and research. “We are on the border, just like, for example, Tilburg and Twente.” Which means that there are more students from neighbouring countries. Moreover, the UM has a ‘steady’ growth of foreign students; for years, half of the population has consisted of internationals.
Letschert suggests experimentation. “Why don’t we give the institutes that need it more space and opportunities?”
Another point of criticism that she mentions, concerns the unnecessary administrative tasks that the implementation of the bill would create. “Imagine that we would have to subject all our programmes that are in English to a language exam in order to prove that they provide ‘added value’? This would only lead to more work pressure.” Even though the majority of the bachelor’s and practically all the master’s programmes at the UM are given in English, Letschert emphasises that she is an advocate of Dutch as an academic language. “We have to take our responsibility in that.”
How to proceed? Dijkgraaf is working on a joint ‘Toekomstverkenning’ (Future Exploration) at the moment. Only after that will he come up with an “inclusive package of measures”, as well as ‘control instruments’ for the influx, the Higher Education Press Agency reports. “We’re browned off by the fact that we have to wait even longer,” said a spokesperson for umbrella organisation UNL to the medium. Letschert also acknowledges that something needs to be done soon.