Netherlands moves ahead with plan to stop English instruction in higher education

In the future, institutions may only be able to offer higher education studies that are largely taught in English and other languages if they have a good reason to do so. Outgoing Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf has drafted a bill to combat the what the Cabinet considers to be an excess of internationalization of Dutch higher education. "The bill also provides for a maximum number of places for students from outside Europe if teaching capacity appears to be limited. This guarantees access for Dutch and European students," his ministry said.

His proposal is that one third of course credits may be taught in a language other than Dutch. Programs must meet certain requirements if they are above that threshold, he said on Friday. Dijkgraaf already sent a plan to Parliament in April to gain control over the issue of internationalization. He has now elaborated on that plan, crafting it into a bill. Study programs, students and other interested parties can submit their opinion on the bill until September 15. After that, it can be discussed with other branches of government.

One of the aspects of his plan is that Dutch should remain the main language at research-based and applied science universities. It was already known that the minister wanted to set conditions to be allowed to deviate from this. He disclosed more about those conditions on Friday.

Dijkgraaf, or his successor, will in the future assess whether programs are allowed to offer more than a third of course credits in a foreign language. There must be several reasons for deviating from this standard. For example, it will be taken into account if students are trained for a profession in which there are staff shortages. Other possible reasons are that a certain study is among the top levels internationally, that it improves the Dutch position in a field, or that there are hardly any Dutch-speaking teachers to be found.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science said, "in recent years, the number of international students has increased sharply to around 115,000. In university education, 40% of new students now come from outside the Netherlands (in 2015 this was still 28%)."

The minister believes that the internationalization of studies at higher education institutions has gone too far. He fears that the quality of education will come under pressure due to the large influx of students from abroad. This leads to overcrowded lecture halls, a high workload and a worsening of student housing situations, according to the minister.

"These trends undermine the experience education and student life should provide. There is a need for a strategic rethink of internationalization and the exchange of talent," the ministry continued.