Both solicited and unsolicited, the new Rotterdam student council will soon be able to advise the municipality and the educational institutions. Specifically about the ‘needs, challenges and ideas for solutions of students’, the spokesperson for education alderman Said Kasmi indicates. Topics might include nightlife and the housing market. “The municipality has all sorts of questions regarding student affairs”, says policy advisor Education Maureen Konigferander from the municipality of Rotterdam. These questions can be addressed to this council, and students can also raise topics themselves.
The number of students that each educational institution can delegate depends on its size. Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Zadkine, Albeda and Erasmus University may provide three council members. At the first meeting of the new university council in early September or late August, it will be decided which three university council members will be the delegates, reveals Achraf Taouil from the Erasmus Student Coalition. If there are more than three interested candidates, a vote will be held. The identity of the first chair of the Rotterdam student council will also be decided in September.
Which thirteen educational institutions are participating, alongside Erasmus University?
From mbo: Albeda, Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam, Hoornbeeck College, Hout- en Meubileringscollege, Scheepvaart en Transport College, Techniek College Rotterdam, Yuverta and Zadkine
From hbo: Codarts, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, InHolland, and Thomas More University of Applied Sciences
Using talent for the city
The municipality is currently making many decisions about and not with students, says Konigferander. This needs to change with the council, although she understands that it will take time for such a new collaboration to become established. “Increased participation from students is part of our policy Rotterdam Student City”, she explains. She is pleased that this council is now coming into existence.
More appreciation for secondary vocational education is also included in that policy plan. “Collaboration breaks down prejudices”, says Konigferander. “In later life, you will encounter each other anyway, and in the student council, you learn to collaborate now. We are the first in the Netherlands to do this with the three levels of education.”
According to Konigferander, the student council is also an opportunity to harness the talents, ideas, and views of students for the city. “Furthermore, if students are more involved with a city, the chances are greater that they will stay there to live and work after their studies”, states the spokesperson for the education alderman.
Doubt
Last year, there was discussion in the University Council about participation, Taouil relates – he was enthusiastic about the plan from the get go. Workload was a concern among the students, as would the student council not demand too much from students alongside their studies, part-time jobs and social lives? This is a concern that the municipality saw coming. “That is why the municipality provides them with a compensation of 15 euros per hour, and we expect about five hours of commitment per month”, says Konigferander. “One and a half hours of meeting with each other, one and a half hours of committee meetings – for example, a committee on student wellbeing. And then there’s preparation work. Is that enough? We will continually reassess.”
