{"id":125820,"date":"2021-04-22T12:57:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T10:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=125820"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:34","slug":"possible-mandatory-coronavirus-testing-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/04\/22\/possible-mandatory-coronavirus-testing-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible mandatory coronavirus testing for students"},"content":{"rendered":"

If worst comes to worst, if no other option is available, the government wants to make coronavirus testing mandatory for students (but not for teaching faculty). That\u2019s one of the items included in new draft legislation.<\/p>\n

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On Friday, the government sent a proposed law for the introduction of \u2018test certificates\u2019 to Parliament for approval. The idea is that, in the near future, people will be able to return to museums, events and caf\u00e9s if they can offer proof that there is no danger they will infect others.<\/p>\n

Even as the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic is still underway, just about everyone has had enough of the restrictions. Test certificates could be part of the solution: people who are not carriers of the virus can enjoy more freedoms.<\/p>\n

Fundamental rights<\/h2>

But mandatory testing \u201caffects fundamental rights\u201d, the government acknowledges in its explanatory notes, such as the right to physical integrity and the right to privacy. Therefore, the government would preferably like to deploy test certificates only for non-essential sectors. You don\u2019t necessarily have to go to a caf\u00e9 or museum if test certificates are against your principles.<\/p>\n

Institutions of vocational education and higher education are, however, considered essential. Nonetheless, the government wants to make test certificates mandatory for students, the draft bill says, because the coronavirus measures are having a tremendous impact. According to the government, only one-third of physical education was able to go ahead in the fall, and it\u2019s much less since the start of the new lockdown.<\/p>\n

The ground for this decision is that education is more than knowledge transfer. Contact with fellow students and with teaching faculty is of \u2018essential importance\u2019 to students. The government is worried about student development and programme completion during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\t

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