{"id":134756,"date":"2022-01-13T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T14:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=134756"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:04","slug":"higher-education-goes-out-of-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/01\/13\/higher-education-goes-out-of-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Higher education goes out of lockdown\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under certain conditions, universities will be allowed to resume in-person education next week, sources in The Hague report. The ministers most involved are said to have decided this on Thursday after consultation with advisors.<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a previous press conference about the corona measures.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

People can visit non-essential shops, hairdressers and other contact professions again by appointment from Saturday, RTL Nieuws<\/em><\/a> and NOS<\/a> report. The gyms will also reopen, but the hospitality and culture sectors are said to remain closed.<\/p>\n

The government is basing its decision on new scenarios from the Outbreak Management Team. The omicron variant of the virus is less pathogenic than previously feared. The news about the relaxation will not be known for sure until Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers announce the measures at a press conference on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

Burden<\/h2>

Student organisations, educational institutions and psychiatrists urged<\/a> Wednesday to reopen higher education and vocational training. They pointed out the great emotional burden the lockdown puts on students. And Education Minister Dijkgraaf also announced that the reopening is high on the priority list.<\/p>\n

It is not yet clear under what conditions and to what extent higher education will be allowed to reopen. On Monday, the OMT wrote that students and lecturers will have to wear medical masks when they will return to campus; not only when moving around the building, but also when they are sitting \u2018at teaching sessions in larger groups\u2019.<\/p>\n

Face masks<\/h2>

In an interview published on Wednesday by Vox<\/em><\/a>, the news medium of the Radboud University, OMT member Andreas Voss clarified that the face mask should also be worn during work groups and exams.<\/p>\n

He also stated that the higher education sector should think carefully about the use of physical education: \u201cLectures with large groups could remain online, and tutor groups with a fixed composition could \u2013 at a distance and with good ventilation \u2013 be held physically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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