{"id":168382,"date":"2024-05-28T14:05:09","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T12:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=168382"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:21","slug":"omtzigt-open-to-exemptions-for-students-facing-slow-progress-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/05\/28\/omtzigt-open-to-exemptions-for-students-facing-slow-progress-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Omtzigt open to exemptions for students facing slow-progress penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students who spend a year in student government or who have a long-term illness may be exempt from the slow-progress penalty, according to NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt. In the House debate on the outline coalition agreement, he said he wanted to give the matter ‘careful consideration’.<\/p>\n

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The return<\/a> of the slow-progress penalty is one of the major surprises in the outline agreement. An earlier version of the penalty, introduced years ago, was repealed<\/a> after much protest, but that hasn\u2019t deterred the coalition of PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB: Bachelor\u2019s and Master\u2019s students who fall behind by more than a year will have to pay an extra 3,000 euros in tuition fees from the 2026\/2027 academic year.<\/p>\n

The Dutch Student Union is already gearing up to protest<\/a> against the penalty. President Elisa Weehuizen calls it \u2018a baffling measure that makes it impossible to make mistakes\u2019. \u201cThis will put enormous pressure on students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnout<\/h2>

There are also concerns in the House of Representatives about students\u2019 mental wellbeing, which was made clear on Wednesday by D66 party leader Rob Jetten. Students are already struggling as a result of performance pressure, he said during the debate on the outline agreement presented by the new coalition. \u201cAfter the bad luck generation, are we also going to have a burnout generation because the coalition is going to introduce something that I thought we had got rid of forever, namely the slow-progress penalty?\u201d, he asked NSC\u2019s Pieter Omtzigt.<\/p>\n

The latter admitted that the penalty wasn\u2019t his favourite part of the agreement. \u201cBut I do think it\u2019s something we can explain to the rest of society, who pay for students\u2019 spots at universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omtzigt referred to the education system in the UK, where he said a three-year study programme actually has to be completed in three years. \u201cSo not in three years and a few months\u201d, he clarified.<\/p>\n

Subsidy<\/h2>

Students pay over 2,000 euros in tuition fees a year, but this doesn\u2019t cover the full cost of their studies. The government contributes up to 10,000 euros annually for each student, Omtzigt explained. Which means it\u2019s quite reasonable to ask students to complete their studies \u2018within the normal completion window plus one year\u2019 under \u2018normal circumstances\u2019, the NSC leader said.<\/p>\n

He did note that he was open to exemptions. For instance, he wants to give \u2018careful consideration\u2019 to whether the penalty should also apply to students who have a long-term illness, or to those who spend a year in student government. Jetten suggested that informal carers and top athletes should be added to the list as well.<\/p>\n

Bad luck generation<\/h2>

The D66 leader also attacked Omtzigt on the compensation for students who missed out on the basic student grant \u2013 the so-called bad luck generation. This compensation is lower than promised<\/a>, said Jetten, which Omtzigt denied: \u201cWe\u2019ve consistently stated a figure of 1.4 billion, despite other parties suggesting different figures.\u201d He added: \u201cSome of the other parties\u2019 election programmes didn\u2019t even mention compensation at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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