{"id":112784,"date":"2020-04-21T14:49:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T12:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=112784"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:54","slug":"pressure-mounting-on-minister-parties-call-to-accommodate-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/04\/21\/pressure-mounting-on-minister-parties-call-to-accommodate-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure mounting on Minister: parties call to accommodate students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coalition partners D66 and CDA believe the government should set up a national scheme for students who fall behind due to the corona crisis. The pressure is mounting on Education Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven.<\/p>\n

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Although institutions are doing their utmost to mitigate the fallout, some students are still stymied by the corona crisis. They are no longer on schedule in their programme \u2013 because they can\u2019t do an internship or attend practicals, for example.<\/p>\n

The government needs to set up a national scheme for this problem, according to various parties from both the coalition and the opposition. Because right now, the support funds managed by the research universities and universities of applied sciences set rather curious requirements, as the Higher Education Press Agency (HOP) reported last Friday. And maybe institutions should be offered more funds to help the affected students.<\/p>\n

Aware<\/h2>

A lot of students aren\u2019t even aware that these \u2018profiling funds\u2019 (profileringsfondsen) exist. And reading through the terms (which vary from one institution to the next), it remains to be seen whether they can count on anything after applying for financial support. For example, students sometimes miss the boat when they don\u2019t apply in time, or already have a diploma from another institution.<\/p>\n

For the moment, Minister Van Engelshoven isn\u2019t budging. The only option she has to offer students who run into financial problems is borrowing more money from Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs. But political pressure is mounting.<\/p>\n

As it is, coalition member CDA wanted \u201cmore uniform rules\u201d for the profileringsfondsen, according to MP Harry van der Molen. In the past, he was primarily concerned about students who decide to sit on the board of a student association, for example: some universities of applied sciences and research universities offer these students more support than others.<\/p>\n

Magnifying glass<\/h2>

But in the present corona crisis, these differences have \u201ccome under a magnifying glass\u201d, according to Van der Molen. \u201cIt is always more practical to agree on uniform arrangements. You need to offer students clarity regarding which conditions they need to satisfy to take advantage of this scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n

D66 MP Jan Paternotte also wants the government to move on the matter. He says it\u2019s important to \u201ctighten things up\u201d so students \u201chave a better idea of what they can count on\u201d. Students who \u201cclearly through no fault of their own\u201d fall behind in their studies should not be turned away at the gate.<\/p>\n

Paternotte: \u201cThat more students are applying to this fund in these times shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise. And it also makes sense to study whether the government can\u2019t make extra funds available to the research universities and universities of applied sciences for their profileringsfondsen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018The government \u201cis oversimplifying matters\u201d by stating that students should weather the storm by borrowing more money.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Isn\u2019t fair<\/h2>

The opposition parties agree. \u201cYes, we definitely need to arrange something at the national level,\u201d says Frank Futselaar of the Socialist Party. \u201cIt isn\u2019t fair to leave this in the institutions\u2019 hands \u2013 neither for the institutions nor for the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Futselaar suggests refunding a share of the students\u2019 tuition fee, for example, \u201cor some other form of reimbursement\u201d. According to the SP, another reason why the Cabinet needs to accommodate these students is that many of the part-time jobs that formerly provided a source of income for this group have been suspended. \u201cSimply dismissing this problem with the remark that \u2018they can borrow more money\u2019 doesn\u2019t hack it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks) previously submitted parliamentary questions about accommodating students in some way. In her view, the government \u201cis oversimplifying matters\u201d by stating that students should weather the storm by borrowing more money. Westerveld wants to see a compensation scheme for students, \u201cin which the bill isn\u2019t sent to the institutions, but is footed by national government\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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