Higher education is under pressure and the Netherlands’ scholarly reputation is at stake. This is what Dutch university professors, students and staff say. They are sounding the alarm today because they believe there is little time and money for a quality education.
The main problem is that the money that universities are receiving is not commensurate with the increase in the number of students. According to the Association of Universities (VSNU), government funding per student has decreased for years. For example, the contribution of each student in 2002 was approximately € 20,000, and last year it was € 15,100.
“Every year part of the cheese slicing goes through,” says Casper Albers, professor of applied statistics and data visualization at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Radio NOS 1 News. “You have less time to prepare your lectures and your workgroups are full; there were fifteen students per group, there are now more than twenty.
According to Albers, many colleagues are resigning: “A lot of PhD students say they would like to continue as a science researcher, but they think the workload and job insecurity is too great.” Albers says the quality of scientific research in the Netherlands is also at risk. “We see that other countries, like Germany and Scandinavia, are starting to catch up with us.”
Actions in The Hague
With the “normal academic level” campaign, universities are asking the new cabinet to invest 1.1 billion euros on a structural basis. “This means that more lecturers should be appointed. The number of students has exceeded twenty years. So it takes a lot of work to provide them with a quality education,” says Albers.
Lecturers will travel to The Hague this afternoon to present an information package to the representatives as well as employers, trade unions and student unions. Procedures are also being launched in student cities as part of the Corona procedures.
