Cuts to education in English equivalent to cuts to economic growth, D66 says

The D66 is very concerned about more and more parties pushing to scrap English-language courses at Dutch universities to reduce the number of international students. Doing that would be equivalent to making cuts to the Dutch economy’s growth, D66 parliamentarian Jan Paternotte said in a plan to maintain English-language education.

Paternotte referred to plans by the VVD to save 800 million euros by reducing the number of international students. The party also wants to make it mandatory that almost all bachelor’s courses are taught in Dutch. The NSC is also pushing to reduce the number of courses taught in English significantly.

That is a very dangerous thing to do when the Netherlands is already facing widespread staff shortages, Paternotte believes. “Think of the major shortages in the labor market that happened in Denmark after they closed the door to international students in 2018.”

The Netherlands has become a very popular study destination for international students in recent decades, attracting so many students that lecture halls are often crowded, and concerns have arisen about maintaining the quality of education. Universities long called for extra funding from the government, and student unions demanded measures to reduce the number of international students.

Last academic year, the government ordered Dutch higher education institutions to stop actively recruiting students from abroad, among other things. As a result, the number of international students did not increase in the 2023/24 academic year for the first time in years.

Paternotte acknowledged that higher education institutions were under pressure and “more guidance is needed.” But he added that the large number of international students also contribute a lot to the Netherlands - economic growth, knowledgeable workers who are used to the Netherlands, a good network for scientists, and valuable exchange programs for Dutch students.

“Let’s not make the historical blunder of doing almost all studies in Dutch. The stakes are high if we don’t make the right choices,” Paternotte said. “Let us be open to the world and not hide behind the dikes.”