{"id":174026,"date":"2024-12-02T15:42:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T14:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=174026"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:37","slug":"further-delay-for-the-slow-progress-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/12\/02\/further-delay-for-the-slow-progress-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Further delay for the slow-progress penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students who take longer to graduate will not have to pay a slow-progress penalty until September 2028, Education minister Bruins announced. This is a year later than originally planned and creates a gap in the budget. However, the measure may not even go ahead at all.<\/p>

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Protesters march through The Hague during the demonstration against the budget cuts on 25 November.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaan Stam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Many members of the House of Representatives would have preferred to avoid Thursday\u2019s debate on the education budget. Intense negotiations have been taking place behind the scenes since Wednesday to soften the government\u2019s multibillion-euro austerity measures. Yet, coalition parties insisted on proceeding without delay.<\/p>\n

Postponement after postponement<\/h2>

The debate began with minister Bruins, whose most striking announcement was that the slow-progress penalty would face further delays. The legislative amendment will not take effect in 2026, as outlined in the cabinet\u2019s coalition agreement<\/a>, nor in 2027, as he estimated in October, but \u2018at the earliest, in September 2028\u2019, Bruins stated.<\/p>\n

This delay creates a budget shortfall of more than half a billion euros, as the savings had already been factored in. The gap amounts to 95 million euros in 2026, 285 million euros in 2027, and around 190 million euros in 2028. Bruins said: \u201cThis is a hard cut, and I stand by it.\u201d He promised to present a solution for the budget gap in a few months.<\/p>\n

Or will it be scrapped?<\/h2>

That is, if the penalty is still introduced. Last month, it was leaked that the minister is exploring alternatives<\/a>. The measure disproportionately affects some groups and is becoming so complex due to proposed exemptions that Bruins is struggling to implement it effectively.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, new negotiations began on Wednesday with opposition parties from the \u2018monster alliance\u2019 of D66, CDA and JA21, now joined by SGP and ChristenUnie. These parties are threatening to vote against the budget in the Senate and are demanding a reversal of 1.3 billion euros in education cuts. They have also specifically targeted the slow-progress penalty.<\/p>\n\n\t

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