Photo Marte Hofsteenge Higher education institutions, vocational schools and students are calling on The Hague one last time to reverse the cuts to education budgets, and to provide inflation relief.
This Wednesday and Thursday, the House of Representatives will discuss the national budget before going into recess until the general election on 29 October. There may still be a window to do something about the cutbacks in tertiary education.
Hence today’s call from Universities of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, the MBO Council and national student organisations. The signatories are particularly galled by the fact that this year’s Budget Memorandum includes yet another budget cut to tertiary education.
Inflation
The issue is inflation. The outgoing government has proposed that rising wages and prices should only be partially offset in tertiary education, forcing educational institutions to cover these cost increases themselves. Meanwhile, primary and secondary education will receive full compensation.
All in all, this is projected to save tens of millions of euros, on top of other cuts announced by the current government.
The institutions emphasise that these latest plans will have long-term consequences. Even if a future government decides to compensate for inflation, it will have a bigger gap to bridge, requiring additional funding.
Erosion
‘Vocational schools and higher education institutions are already facing the consequences of declining enrolment numbers and substantial budget cuts’, the institutions write. ‘This further erosion of funding will structurally reduce institutions’ resources, limiting their ability to maintain the current quality and breadth of teaching and research.’
Nearly every party acknowledges the issue of falling student numbers and disappearing programmes, and most manifestos for the upcoming elections include calls for more stable higher education funding.
Not yet aware
The tertiary education sector’s dismay at the government’s budget cuts is widely known. ‘But many people are not yet aware of these stealth cuts through wage and price adjustments’, said a spokesperson for Universities of the Netherlands. ‘These cuts are not a given, because other education sectors will be exempt. We would like the same courtesy to be extended to us, as we are already facing significant cutbacks.’
