{"id":127089,"date":"2021-05-20T14:32:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T12:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=127089"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:38","slug":"protest-in-rotterdam-what-do-we-want-to-be-debt-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/05\/20\/protest-in-rotterdam-what-do-we-want-to-be-debt-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest in Rotterdam: ‘What do we want? To be debt-free!’"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday evening thirty students marched through the city, wielding the striking red flags of the youth wing of the Communist Party and PvdA (the Dutch Labour Party), among other political parties. Megaphones amplified the various slogans being shouted: \u2018Huge debts are absurd \u2013 students, make yourselves heard!\u2019, and \u2018What do we want? To be debt-free!\u2019 They all had the same message: abolish student loans.<\/p>\n

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Students demonstrate against the loan system in front of the town hall in Rotterdam.<\/span><\/p>

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The youth wing of the FNV trade union and the LSVb (National Student Union) have been busy organising protests against student loans. This week students will congregate in several places in the Netherlands to raise awareness of the situation in which students currently find themselves, in which they know they will have to repay significant student loan debts after graduating. On Wednesday, 19 May they protested in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

For future generations<\/h2>
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One of the participants shares her study debt: EUR 32,514.28 and she has not yet graduated.<\/span><\/p>

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The protesters made themselves heard in the entire city, from Schouwburgplein to Blaak, and from there to the City Hall. Sometimes they received applause from the people seated at the caf\u00e9s\u2019 outdoor seating areas.<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Germain, who attends Erasmus University, helped organise the protest. He was happy with the evening\u2019s turn-out. \u201cWe\u2019ve attracted a good number of people and we\u2019re definitely getting people\u2019s attention. Also, we have many different types of students in our midst. The youth wing of the Communist Party is represented, but so is, say, the youth wing of CDA.\u201d<\/p>\n

His fellow protester Dasha Derzhavets agreed with the latter, but felt the protests should be attended by more people. \u201cWe should have way more people here. We\u2019re not just doing this for ourselves, but for future generations. More students should get together for protests like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strung along<\/h2>

The chairman of the Young Socialists, Bob den Ouden, who attends Erasmus University, as well, was another participant in the march. \u201cThe main objective of this protest is to raise awareness. I\u2019m here on behalf of the Young Socialists. Like nearly all youth wings of political parties, we oppose student loans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students carried a red-and-white ribbon through the city. \u201cIt could symbolise the fact that we students are being strung along,\u201d said Bob. \u201cBut in actual fact, I believe we\u2019re only using it as a tool to help ourselves keep five feet\u2019s distance from each other!\u201d He grinned.<\/p>\n

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Nathaniel leads the protest march on Coolsingel.<\/span><\/p>

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Everything for free<\/h2>

So what exactly is it these students want? \u201cWe need things to change. For instance, we need student grants for everyone. Basically, everything should be provided for free. We students can\u2019t be expected to pay for everything. We don\u2019t have the means for that,\u201d explained Dasha.<\/p>\n

For his part, Nathaniel added: \u201cThe changes we want are clearly defined. We want everyone to be able to graduate without incurring any debt, and we want those people who are currently attending universities to be compensated for the lack of student grants \u2013 in a way that doesn\u2019t negatively affect the quality of our degree programmes, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

LSVb and FNV Young & United are organising a nationwide strike in The Hague on 3 June. They are calling on everyone to join the protest on that date, to make sure that students are not forgotten when the incoming Cabinet draws up its budgets.<\/p>\n\n\t

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