Binding Study Advice (BSA) will be relaxed if it is up to Minister Dajgraf. With the BSA, universities and universities of applied sciences have the option of expelling students who fail to pass sufficient examinations after the first year. At most universities, the maximum stay is set at 40 to 45 of 60 credits: students who fail both exam opportunities in more than a third of their courses must leave. The minister wants to lower the limit to 30 points, arguing that the current limit leads to student fatigue.
This is an odd proposition for several reasons. First, it doesn’t solve the problem of stress: teachers are now overloaded with stress. Right now, about 10 percent receive negative advice, with a 30-point limit, which is much less. Then you have several sophomores. Teaching students who have large gaps in their expected knowledge requires additional work. There is no extra money. Dijkgraaf has pointed out on several occasions that the workload in universities is very high, but unfortunately this scheme contributes to the problem.
Second: No scientific study has shown a causal relationship between the BSA level and students’ pressures. What is known – and recently highlighted in education case – is that the reduction in the BSA standard leads to more dropouts from the study. Dean is a student without a diploma, it’s stressful.
It is also almost impossible to measure whether body surface area causes stress. Several studies measured students’ stress levels before and after increasing body surface area and saw a difference. But the difference does not mean a causal difference. Since the BBB won the provincial elections, the Netherlands has performed sensationally only in the Eurovision Song Contest. This is also not just a causal relationship.
You cannot measure whether there is a causal relationship, but you can simply ask the students what they think of the body’s surface area. And that’s exactly what Daggrave’s Ministry did on a massive scale last year Monitoring higher education policy actions. And the screen is clear: “Once they begin their studies, students often find that body surface area has a more positive effect on their study behavior (motivation) than a primarily negative effect (stress).” This group is three times larger than the group of opponents of the BSA.
The proposal also removes the option to provide customization. Outside private search In Groningen I know there is a big difference between courses. In programs such as medicine, rigorous selection is required and additional selection after the first year proves to add little value. This is different from other courses.
The solution is simple: let universities and universities of applied sciences decide for themselves, if desired for each program or faculty, how strictly you and the participating bodies should be involved in this decision. If the institute chooses 30 points: good, but leave the choice to students and lecturers.
