{"id":172583,"date":"2024-10-21T15:39:05","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T13:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172583"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:32","slug":"officials-say-randstad-in-particular-will-feel-pain-of-new-language-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/21\/officials-say-randstad-in-particular-will-feel-pain-of-new-language-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials say Randstad in particular will feel pain of new language requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Higher education in the Randstad conurbation in particular will be affected by the stricter rules against English-language education, officials warn. They doubt whether institutions want to collaborate ‘to distribute the pain’.<\/p>\n

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A lecture from ESE and ESL together.<\/span><\/p>

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On Tuesday, the minister of Education sent his plan to the House of Representatives: the Internationalisering in balans<\/em> (Internationalisation in equilibrium) bill is staying the same, but the underlying rules will become stricter.<\/p>\n

Stricter test<\/h2>

This is especially true for the test for instruction in another language. Almost all study programmes in other languages will have to give justification of why they are not teaching in Dutch. If they don\u2019t manage, they have to switch to Dutch. Higher education institutions are very worried<\/a> about this test and the Council of State voices criticism<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

It comes with a cutback. The higher the number of programmes switching to Dutch, the fewer internationals will come to the Netherlands. Over time, Bruins wants to save 293 million euros per year this way.<\/p>\n

Randstad<\/h2>

An official memo that the minister sent to the House of Representatives on Tuesday shows that the Ministry of Education always had the Randstad in mind when designing the language test.<\/p>\n

Higher education institutions in the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht regions will be more affected, the officials explained to the minister in a memo<\/a> in August. \u201cThat\u2019s a conscious choice, which aligns with the politically desired focus\u201d, they write.<\/p>\n

Which political focus this is remains a mystery. It could be due to a shortage of rooms for rent in the major cities, but this is also a problem in Groningen, Nijmegen and Eindhoven.<\/p>\n

Exceptions to the test<\/h2>

No two institutions are alike. The officials explain that it will be easier for higher education institutions \u2018that cater to deficit sectors (such as universities of technology) or are located in border regions and areas facing depopulation\u2019 to invoke exceptions. The test for instruction in another language gives them \u2018many opportunities to provide non-Dutch-taught education\u2019.<\/p>\n

For Randstad institutions outside the deficit sectors, there are only two possible grounds for exception: \u2018uniqueness\u2019 and \u2018positioning\u2019. Officials think that programmes like International Law, European Studies, and the vocational bachelor\u2019s programme in International Business will invoke these.<\/p>\n

But in general, Bruins wants to make the latter two routes to English-language education more difficult. The minister warns that programmes are rarely \u2018unique\u2019 and even unique programmes must be able to prove that teaching in another language is necessary \u2018in order to preserve the professional field in the Netherlands\u2019.<\/p>\n

Solidarity<\/h2>

The idea that the Randstad will have a hard time due to cutbacks and language requirements is one that universities have had for a while now. But if one university is affected much more than another, this will undermine mutual solidarity.<\/p>\n

This may well come back to haunt Bruins, because it\u2019s mostly up to the institutions to jointly decide how to \u2018distribute the pain\u2019, as officials called it in a memo that was sent as an enclosure to the plan on Tuesday. The focus on the Randstad \u2018will cause an imbalance in self-management\u2019, the officials predict.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, this past summer the ministry already received \u2018signals\u2019 that universities outside the Randstad don\u2019t feel like making joint agreements. They think \u2018they have nothing to gain from those\u2019, the same piece reads.<\/p>\n

Universities of applied sciences<\/h2>

In this regard, the situation at the universities of applied sciences is a bad omen. There too, people are having trouble to get onto the same page, although this has less to do with language policy. President of the Saxion Executive Board Anka Mulder is stepping down from the board<\/a> of the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. The reason: the universities of applied sciences aren\u2019t managing to reach an agreement about support for those amongst them located in areas facing depopulation, including Saxion.<\/p>\n\n\t

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