{"id":88354,"date":"2018-07-05T10:08:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T08:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=88354"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:02","slug":"minister-transparant-bestuur-belangrijk-maar-extra-regels-overbodig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/07\/05\/minister-transparant-bestuur-belangrijk-maar-extra-regels-overbodig\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister: \u2018Transparent governance is important, but extra rules are unnecessary\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Universities and universities of applied sciences who declare policy documents confidential will have to give a good reason for doing so, says Minister of Education Ingrid van Engelshoven. But she feels new national rules are unnecessary.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tU-Today<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The editorial desk of U-Today, the independent news site of the University of Twente sent an open letter<\/a>\u00a0to Minister Van Engelshoven. In their letter six editors asserted that documents and meetings of participation in decision-making bodies are increasingly being declared confidential, a practice that is impeding journalism. They called on the Minister to introduce clear rules of play.<\/p>\n

Transparency and openness in higher education are of considerable importance, stressed Van Engelshoven. But there are sufficient rules already in place, she writes: \u201cThe underlying principle adopted in the Enhanced Governance Powers (Educational Institutions) Act is \u2018public, except when privacy considerations are involved.\u2019 And then there is also the Government Information (Public Access) Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflex<\/h2>

\u201cCurtailing transparency is something that has to be properly justified\u201d, she continues. \u201cInstitutions will have to present a good reason if access to documents is restricted or if policy documents and reports aren\u2019t made public or shared. That\u2019s why I want to stimulate dialogue at institutions instead of the knee-jerk response of extra legislation from the government. That\u2019s why my response to the call for extra rules is: engage in productive dialogue with each other and make clear agreements on transparency and the scope of confidentiality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

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