Internationalisation bill faces renewed delays

Education minister Eppo Bruins was supposed to amend the bill aimed at managing the influx of international students before the summer. However, he has indicated that he requires more time.

The (now collapsed) government aims to see more bachelor programmes at universities and particularly universities of applied sciences offered in Dutch. To achieve this, a ‘language assessment for foreign language education’ was proposed.

This caused significant unrest in higher education: which English-taught programmes would be required to switch to Dutch? Resistance particularly grew in border regions, and the business sector underscored the significant shortages in the labour market.

Consequently, the House of Representatives has decided that the language assessment must be removed from the bill. At least, this applies to existing programmes. New programmes must always demonstrate their necessity and relevance before they can commence. Furthermore, new ‘foreign language’ programmes (or foreign language tracks within programmes) will also need to justify why they are not taught in Dutch.

Autumn

One might think that scrapping the language assessment would suffice, allowing the ‘Internationalisation in Balance’ bill to move forward in the House of Representatives. However, it is not that simple, writes Minister Bruins in a letter. The bill will undergo such significant changes that it must be sent back to the Council of State for review, he states. According to him, this will only be feasible in autumn.

Moreover, another issue arises: a clear overview of the ‘existing educational offerings’ needs to be established, including foreign language tracks within programmes. Otherwise, it will be unclear which offerings are ‘new’ and therefore subject to the language assessment.

Relinquished

Bruins warns again of the consequences of removing the language assessment for existing programmes from the bill. “By doing this, I effectively relinquish my ability to intervene in the current foreign language offerings”, writes the minister.

Despite this self-management, which institutions have already begun to implement, Bruins emphasises ‘how important it is to maintain oversight over the internationalisation of our education, to keep the system sustainable and affordable’. He points to the somewhat increased costs of student financing for European students.

Moreover, in a recent interview with HOP, Bruins stated that the Minister of Education should have less power. This aligns with a language policy in which the minister largely relinquishes that oversight.