{"id":175017,"date":"2025-01-23T13:44:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T12:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=175017"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:30:32","slug":"student-leaders-looking-for-successors-the-budget-cuts-havent-passed-the-senate-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/01\/23\/student-leaders-looking-for-successors-the-budget-cuts-havent-passed-the-senate-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Student leaders looking for successors: ‘The budget cuts haven\u2019t passed the Senate yet’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The slow-progress penalty is off the table, but student leaders need to get on board, say outgoing chairs Abdelkader Karbache and Mylou Mich\u00e9 of the LSVb and the ISO. “You can take a principled stance and go: we\u2019re not talking to this cabinet. But it feels like we have a moral obligation to keep the lines of communication open.”<\/p>\n

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Mylou Mich\u00e9 en Abdelkader Karbache, voorzitters van respectievelijk de LSVb en het ISO.<\/span><\/p>

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Abdelkader Karbache and Mylou Mich\u00e9 were still settling into their roles as chairpersons of LSVb and ISO when the current cabinet was sworn in. The four coalition parties introduced a \u2018slow-progress penalty\u2019 and announced major cuts in education and research. Bizarre plans, Karbache and Mich\u00e9 agree.<\/p>\n

The coalition agreement turned their board year upside down. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we didn\u2019t see it coming\u201d, says Karbache. \u201cI wanted to be on the LSVb board because I was really concerned about education, but I have to admit that things were even more concerning than I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing tack<\/h2>

ISO realised it had to change tack. As an organisation rooted in student participation, its members normally prefer to fight for change in meeting rooms, but now they had to take to the streets. \u201cProtesting is not something ISO normally does\u201d, Mich\u00e9 explains. \u201cBut we had no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pressure is rising across the board, Karbache says: \u201cThe right to demonstrate, education, livelihood security\u2026 I\u2019m happy that we\u2019re able to organise demonstrations that attract thousands of people, and that we can launch petitions that are signed by a hundred thousand people. There\u2019s so much support from students and teachers. That\u2019s what I want to show young people: that you can fight against injustice. We also had a secret goal: to organise a demonstration with a turnout of over 20 thousand people, breaking the existing record. And we actually pulled it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in between demonstrations, they still talk to the Minister of Education. \u201cFortunately, we do get invited\u201d, Mich\u00e9 says. \u201cHe can\u2019t ignore us\u201d, Karbache adds. \u201cIf he doesn\u2019t talk to us, he\u2019ll hear what we have to say from the media.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping the conversation going<\/h2>

Doesn\u2019t it feel strange to go from speaking at an anti-austerity protest on Malieveld to walking into a conference room for a meeting with the Minister? \u201cAusterity has been an important topic over the past six months\u201d, says Mich\u00e9. \u201cBut we\u2019ve also been focusing on other areas where we had to get things done for students. It\u2019s important to keep the conversation going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Sometimes we get calls from students who feel like there\u2019s no light at the end of the tunnel anymore\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Take internship pay, for example. \u201cThe Minister and ISO may not always see eye to eye, but this is an issue we do need to talk about. Which the Minister knows, of course. Or take the problems students face when they apply for a supplementary grant after cutting contact with their parents. We\u2019re in a position where we can discuss these things with the Minister, so we shouldn\u2019t let that opportunity go to waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe often talk about student wellbeing and social safety at those meetings \u2013 areas where we still have a long way to go. Sometimes we get calls from students who feel like there\u2019s no light at the end of the tunnel anymore. We\u2019ve even had to send condolence cards to associations when one of their members had taken their own life. These issues are so important that we have to keep engaging with the Minister, despite our fundamental differences. You can take a principled stance and go: we\u2019re not talking to this cabinet. But it feels like we have a moral obligation to keep the lines of communication open.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Are you feeling unhappy? Then be sure to schedule an appointment with the university\u2019s own psychologist. Have you been having suicidal thoughts? Please call the suicide prevention hotline at\u00a0113 or use the hotline\u2019s chat feature to talk to an expert (24\/7)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

New board members<\/h2>

Now both organisations are looking for new board members to take up the mantle. It\u2019s a great experience, say Karbache and Mich\u00e9. New members go through a long onboarding process and lots of training before they start working on their own \u2013 a real learning journey, in all sorts of ways. You can get things done, but you\u2019re also suddenly managing a team of people and doing their performance reviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really consider that beforehand\u201d, Mich\u00e9 admits. \u201cAt the same time\u201d, Karbache adds, \u201cmy employees actually take care of me more than I take care of them. They\u2019re students too, of course, and we\u2019ve become close friends. Sometimes they feel less like employees and more like other board members.\u201d It\u2019s the same at ISO, says Mich\u00e9: \u201cWe call it the ISO family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the repeal of the slow-progress penalty is probably their board\u2019s biggest achievement, Karbache likes to give credit to others: \u201cFor months, students, teachers and staff were signing petitions, going to demonstrations and talking to politicians. We were mostly just the medium channelling their efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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