Negotiations for the education budget between the coalition and the four opposition parties (CDA, ChristenUnie, SGP and JA21) lasted well into the evening on Wednesday. A deal was eventually reached, resulting in reversals worth about 700 million euros. These include dropping the langstudeerboete (the penalty incurred for delayed graduation) and softening the cuts for international students in the contracting regions. On the other hand, cuts in research funding remain almost completely unchanged.
“Let me start by saying that a lot of things are still unclear,” says Letschert in her initial reaction. “First and foremost, dropping the penalty is extremely good news for students. We lobbied hard and even demonstrated against it, including in The Hague. It was also a measure that would affect UM directly, as we would have to bear the financial consequences of students taking longer to graduate.”
There was also a lot of uncertainty about the starter’s and incentive grants that aim to reduce the workload for both beginning and established researchers. The government has agreed that these cuts will be reduced, it concerns 40 million euros. “But it is not yet clear how we will get that back and it is still a significant cut,” explains Letschert.
Change
Regarding internationalisation, as it stands, the cabinet has agreed that cuts for international students for the contracting regions, such as South Limburg, will be reduced by 125 million euros. “If you read it, it looks like the cabinet wants to change the Internationalisation in Balance Act (WIB) [this law focuses on more room for Dutch in Bachelor’s programmes, which would lead to fewer international students choosing to study in the Netherlands]. It would appear they’re looking at a change to the assessment of education in other languages, so that the intake of international students isn’t affected too badly in those regions where the law would have enormous consequences for the institutions.”
Besides Limburg, it also applies to Zeeland, Drenthe, Twente, Friesland and Groningen, for both research universities and universities of applied sciences. Letschert reiterates that a lot is still unclear in terms of implementation. “Are we allowed to keep developing or not, what does the measure mean in practice? At the same time, they did listen to us. We were supported by many parties in Limburg and I’m very grateful for this broad lobby.” But the price of the tailored measures proposed for these regions “should not be paid by our fellow universities”, she emphasises.
Moreover, says Letschert, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there are still cuts to the whole education sector worth 1.2 billion euros. “That will put even more pressure on future generations in need of education.”