{"id":96573,"date":"2019-03-22T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T11:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96573"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:14","slug":"baudet-we-are-being-undermined-by-our-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/22\/baudet-we-are-being-undermined-by-our-universities\/","title":{"rendered":"Baudet: \u2018We are being undermined by our universities\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The political party Forum voor Democratie won the most votes in the Dutch provincial council elections. Not just in Rotterdam and Zuid-Holland, but throughout the country as well. With 13 seats, Baudet’s party is set to become the largest political party in the Dutch Senate. What does Forum intend for higher education?<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is a clearcutting going on in education\u201d, Forum leader Baudet stated last night in his victory speech. And: \u201cWe are being undermined by our universities.\u201d Education Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven (D66) took to Twitter on the morning after the elections to condemn his remarks. \u201cWe should protect academic freedom, not place it under suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baudet\u2019s statements are no surprise. A poster by Forum\u2019s youth organisation caused quite a stir last summer; it appeared to incite students to violently oppose their \u2018leftist lecturers\u2019.<\/p>\n

Leftist indoctrination<\/h2>

Only this past month, Baudet announced an inquiry into the \u201cinfluence of left-wing ideology in education\u201d during an evening sitting of his party in Bergen op Zoom. \u201cWe are going to map it all.\u201d Apparently, previous research conducted by the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen did not suffice.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018All cultural and societal institutions in the Netherlands are infiltrated by left-wing activists to a significant degree\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Dutch newspaper NRC reports that Baudet feels that school pupils and students are exposed to \u2018far left\u2019 lecturers, teachers and educational materials. Forum would apparently strive for a cultural transformation. The NRC also quotes Baudet saying \u201cAll cultural and societal institutions in the Netherlands are infiltrated by left-wing activists to a significant degree. We need to, slowly, start getting our people behind those desks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baudet recognises even more threats to higher education. He abhors the \u2018anglicisation\u2019 and voted for a rejected proposal by the PVV to reintroduce Dutch as the main language for education and research in the bachelor phase of the humanities.<\/p>\n

Study grants and selection<\/h2>

Forum would like to reintroduce the basic student grant and is against the interest rate increase on student loans. Furthermore, the funding system for higher education should be changed; this can be read in the party programme. Universities of applied sciences and academic universities should no longer be judged on the number of diplomas they\u2019re handing out; instead, student registration numbers should determine their level of funding.<\/p>\n

Registration numbers might drop, however, as Forum would like to introduce a \u201cstrict entry selection\u201d. They feel that this selection needs to be highly transparent. A (rejected) proposal by the SP to study the different selection methods for their efficacy, was approved of by Baudet and his party colleague Hiddema, as was the (accepted) proposal by D66 that demanded master programmes to scientifically substantiate their selection criteria.<\/p>\n

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