Roughly a third of Dutch university lecturers are unqualified: report

About a third of Dutch university lecturers are unqualified, according to a study done by the intercity student consultation ISO, ANP reports. ISO used annual reports from universities to look at how many lecturers have the so-called Basic Teaching Qualification - which universities use as a certificate of competence for lecturers in higher education. About a third of lecturers do not have this non-compulsory qualification. "A student must be able to trust that the lecturer in front of the class is qualified. Four years of schooling is required to teach at a primary school, while at universities lecturers can teach without any training", ISO president Jan Sinnige said, according to the news wire.. "In reality the problem is even bigger. There are namely also many doctoral students and student assistants in the classroom. Here the percentage with a Basic Teaching Qualification is expected to be much lower." According to the ISO, only 70 percent of university students and 60 percent of college students are satisfied with their lecturers. "Serious measures are required to get the quality of lecturers in order once and for all."