{"id":88212,"date":"2018-06-22T17:01:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T15:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=88212"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:01","slug":"bekostiging-buitenlandse-studenten-gaat-op-de-schop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/06\/22\/bekostiging-buitenlandse-studenten-gaat-op-de-schop\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes in store for funding international students"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is not the intention that universities and universities of applied sciences use international students solely as a source of revenue, said Minister Van Engelshoven. She plans to make changes to funding higher education that reflect this thinking.<\/p>\n

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While Van Engelshoven had already stated earlier that using English as a language of instruction must have added value and not be used exclusively as a tool to recruit international students, her words during a debate in the Lower House had never sounded quite so emphatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the funding methodology there are significant incentives for retaining as many students as possible, because then your piece of the pie remains the same,\u201d she said to Members of Parliament. This is the mechanism she wants to remove, because \u201cwe can all sense that it\u2019s something that\u2019s not healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well-received<\/h2>

Her words were well-received in the Lower House. Similarly, her explanation of stricter supervision of using English in higher education was something Members of Parliament could appreciate: in the process assessing the quality of education (accreditation) taking place every six years, from now on, degree programmes using English will have to explain their choice of the language of instruction.<\/p>\n

Only the VVD was briefly hesitant about this measure. You can\u2019t change the rules in the middle of the game, said MP Judith Tielen. The accreditation process is already very labour intensive and must not be made unworkable.<\/p>\n

However, opposition party SP backed up the Minister. \u201cI\u2019m not used to defending the Minister\u2019s policy,\u201d said MP Futselaar, \u201cbut if you can\u2019t substantiate relatively easily why your degree programme is in English, you need to take a good look at what you\u2019re doing. And I\u2019m saying this as someone who has had to do accreditations.\u201d Futselaar is a former university of applied sciences lecturer.<\/p>\n

Modernisation<\/h2>

The Minister additionally said that she would speed up the pace of modernising the section of law governing language of instruction in higher education. The intention is for the legislative amendment to come into force on 1 March 2020.<\/p>\n

Other parties, including the CDA, want to know more details about her plans. \u201cThere is no wall around the Netherlands and we want to keep it that way,\u201d said MP Harry van der Molen, \u201cbut introducing internationalisation for reasons of convenience needs to be curtailed.\u201d As far as he is concerned, the Anglicisation of higher education has already gone beyond acceptable limits.<\/p>\n

The Minister was able to reassure him. She pledged that the Dutch language will remain the guiding principle in her legislative proposal. This is because she wants to preserve Dutch as a language used in education and academia. If a degree programme still wants to make the transition to English, then the participation in decision-making bodies will play a role in this decision.<\/p>\n

Language policy<\/h2>

At the same time, the Inspectorate of Education is conducting a study this year into language policy in higher education. Van Engelshoven promised that if \u201cany excesses\u201d are identified, the inspectors will take action, even though she didn\u2019t define exactly what might comprise an excess. In the fall, the Lower House will be presented with the findings of the study and the parliamentary groups will presumably revisit the issue.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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