The government was planning to subject all English-taught bachelor’s programmes at universities and universities of applied sciences to an assessment: do they have good reasons for offering this programme in English, or would it be better in Dutch?
For a long time, the four governing parties – PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB – supported this plan. They aim to reduce the number of foreign students coming to the Netherlands, and ‘less English-taught education’ is an easy way to achieve this.
Pivot
However, the plans created uncertainty for universities and universities of applied sciences, on top of governmental budget cuts and a decline in the number of students. Various companies and local governments in shrinking regions also expressed concerns about the plans.
Last week, NSC pivoted its position, and the VVD has since followed suit. They are co-signatories of a CDA motion that scraps the announced ‘assessment of foreign language education’ for existing bachelor’s programmes and is set to receive a majority this afternoon.
One reason: the influx of foreign bachelor students is already declining. Furthermore, universities have submitted a proposal to manage internationalisation themselves, which has garnered considerable appreciation in the political arena. In the proposal, the English track of Psychology in Rotterdam was sacrificed, and the English versions of Business Administration (IBA) and Economics (IBEB) will have a smaller intake of students.
168 million
Therefore, the signatories are requesting the government to amend the legislative proposal ‘Internationalisation in Balance’. Instead of a language assessment, the Minister of Education should reach a ‘binding administrative agreement’ with the educational institutions.
Initially, PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB aimed to save 293 million euros per year on foreign students. After a compromise with the Christian opposition and JA21, this was reduced to 168 million euros per year. This budget cut seems to have already been achieved.
For new bachelor’s programmes, however, the language of instruction remains a point of discussion: a committee reviewing the ‘efficiency’ of higher education will now also assess the necessity and utility of ‘foreign language’ education before a new programme can be launched.
