{"id":174437,"date":"2024-12-11T16:23:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T15:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=174437"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:38","slug":"whistle-protest-at-erasmus-plaza-the-cuts-are-a-blow-to-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/12\/11\/whistle-protest-at-erasmus-plaza-the-cuts-are-a-blow-to-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Whistle protest at Erasmus Plaza: ‘The cuts are a blow to higher education’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over a hundred students and staff participated in a protest at Erasmus Plaza on Wednesday afternoon. They made noise to protest against the proposed cuts to higher education.<\/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\tElmer Smaling<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The protest, organised by WOinActie, was held in response to the government\u2019s budget cuts to higher education. Around midday, dozens of students and EUR staff blew their whistles enthusiastically to express their discontent with the cabinet\u2019s austerity plans. Each whistle session was followed by slogans shouted through a megaphone. \u201cTeachers and students united will never be defeated,\u201d they chanted. The demonstrators called out in unison: \u201cDon\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Even louder<\/h2>

\u201cIf you don\u2019t make noise, nothing will happen\u201d, said Niels van Tol, staff member of the University Library. Van Tol believes it is crucial for students and staff to speak out. \u201cIt could have been even louder, as far as I\u2019m concerned\u201d, he remarked after the whistling.<\/p>\n

Van Tol wants the protests to continue until concrete changes are made to the austerity plans. \u201cThose who remain silent give their consent; it is up to citizens to respond to these bad ideas.\u201d He described the cabinet\u2019s postponement of the slow-progress penalty as an \u2018empty promise\u2019. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad that the cabinet talks a lot but takes little action.\u201d To Van Tol, the cabinet\u2019s plans feel deeply contradictory. \u201cThe cabinet says it wants to invest in education, yet it is severely cutting funding for education and scientific research.\u201d<\/p>\n

A blow to higher education<\/h2>
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Sjoerd van Vliet.<\/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\tJamal Bimmel<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Sjoerd van Vliet, board member of the General Education Union (AOb) and lecturer at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, believes the cuts will devastate higher education. \u201cAnd that will, in turn, devastate the Dutch economy and our capacity for innovation.\u201d According to him, innovation is essential for the Netherlands to continue growing and to remain strong in a time when war is drawing ever closer. He hopes the \u2018catastrophe for higher education\u2019 can still be averted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be there for my students, to educate them and prepare them for the future, but soon we won\u2019t have that opportunity anymore\u201d, said Van Vliet. He described the whistle protest as a \u201clast cry\u201d for change. \u201cIf The Hague doesn\u2019t make sensible decisions, there will undoubtedly be follow-up actions, and perhaps even strikes.\u201d Jasper Schut, chair of the student union STUUR, confirmed this. \u201cIf nothing changes, strikes might indeed become necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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