Coalition parties won't support opposition's plans to lessen education budget cuts

The coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB are not keen on taking the almost 2 billion euros in education budget cuts off the table as the opposition wants. Multiple opposition parties made concrete proposals to change the budget on multiple points, but the coalition parties do not consider it their task to accommodate the opposition, as became clear during the debate on the 2025 education budget, NOS reports.

The coalition parties want to stick to the agreements made in the coalition and stress that the Schoof I Cabinet chose to spend extra money on other things like security, defense, and improving people’s purchasing power. The cuts to education are no reason for celebration, VVD parliamentarian Claire Martens-America said. “But we have chosen security. There is a war on the borders of Europe. I am not going to simply throw out agreements that have been made.”

The other three opposition parties added that extra money does not automatically lead to better education. “Never before has so much money, 50 billion euros, been spent on education,” said NSC MP Aant Jelle Soepboer. He accused the D66 of “throwing money around” in the previous Cabinet without demonstrable results.

The education cuts drew fierce criticism from the opposition parties, students, educational institutions, scientists, the business community, and banks. Opposition parties warned the coalition that they are heading towards a “blind wall” in the Senate, where the coalition has no majority. If no opposition party supports them there, the current education budget, set up by the Rutte IV Cabinet with a lot of extra education money, will remain in force.

But according to the coalition MPs, it is not their job to gather support in the Senate. That is up to NSC Minister Eppo Bruins of Education and, to a lesser extent, State Secretary Marielle Paul. “We should not confuse the roles,” said VVD MP Martens-America. “I hope the Minister is busy with the Senate.” The PVV is counting on Bruins’ “creativity.”

In response to a massive protest against the education cuts in The Hague on Monday, Bruins said on X that he understands the “frustration” about the cuts. “The reality is that we as a Cabinet have made different choices. I am, therefore, not going to beat around the bush: I am not going to promise extra euros or reverse cuts.”

Bruins will speak about the education budget on Thursday.