{"id":174256,"date":"2024-12-09T11:56:08","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T10:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=174256"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:38","slug":"number-of-students-at-iss-and-ihs-halved-due-to-termination-of-international-scholarship-programmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/12\/09\/number-of-students-at-iss-and-ihs-halved-due-to-termination-of-international-scholarship-programmes\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of students at ISS and IHS halved due to termination of international scholarship programmes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of a scholarship programme is hitting two university institutes hard, halving the number of students at the ISS and IHS. \u201cFor African students, this represents a significant reduction in their study opportunities in the Netherlands, raising the question of whether this is fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrancesca Mora<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Due to the termination of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP), the number of students at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) has halved this academic year.<\/p>\n

Normally, IHS welcomes around one hundred students each year, but this number has dropped to fifty due to the disappearance of the OKP international scholarships. A similar decline is visible at ISS: from 150 last year to 70 students.<\/p>\n

Impact on education and diversity <\/h2>

The halving of the student numbers has significant consequences for IHS, especially for the dynamics of the student population and the education, says director David Dodman. \u201cOur teaching method focuses on students learning not only from the lecturer but also from their peers. So, when you have a smaller student cohort, you have a narrower set of experiences to learn from\u201d, he explains.<\/p>\n

What stands out at ISS is the decrease in African students, says Karin Arts, the deputy rector for educational affairs. \u201cIt\u2019s very painful to see\u201d, she says. The loss of the scholarship has a direct impact on the diversity of the student group. \u201cEspecially for an institute focused on development studies, the loss of African students is problematic. For African students, this represents a significant reduction in their study opportunities in the Netherlands, both individually and collectively, raising the question of whether this is fair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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