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<h2 class="entry-title">Dutch Minister tells HEIs to ensure accessibility for country’s own</h2>
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<small><span class="gmail-sep">Posted on </span><a href="https://thepienews.com/news/dutch-minister-tells-heis-to-ensure-accessibility-in-letter/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-06-13T13:11:10+00:00">Jun 13, 2018</time></a> <span class="gmail-sep"> by </span> <span class="gmail-author gmail-vcard"><a class="gmail-url gmail-fn gmail-n" href="https://thepienews.com/author/claudia/" title="View all posts by Claudia Civinini">Claudia Civinini</a></span></small> </aside>
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<small>Posted in <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/elt/" rel="category tag">ELT</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/government/" rel="category tag">Government</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/section/news/" rel="category tag">News</a>, under <a href="https://thepienews.com/region/europe/" rel="tag">Europe</a>.<br>Tagged with <a href="https://thepienews.com/tags/netherlands/" rel="tag">Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/tags/nuffic/" rel="tag">Nuffic</a>, <a href="https://thepienews.com/tags/vsnu/" rel="tag">VSNU</a>.<br>Bookmark the <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/dutch-minister-tells-heis-to-ensure-accessibility-in-letter/" title="Permalink to Dutch Minister tells HEIs to ensure accessibility for country’s own" rel="bookmark">permalink</a>.</small> </aside>
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<p>Internationalisation enhances the quality of the Dutch higher
education and is crucial for the labour market, but its growth needs to
be balanced to ensure universities remain accessible to all students,
the Netherlands’ minister of education, culture and science said in a
letter to parliament.</p>
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<img src="https://d1pe6f90ru47yo.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/13104328/amsterdam-558028_960_720-860x375.jpg" class="gmail-attachment-single-main gmail-size-single-main gmail-wp-post-image" alt="" width="860" height="375">The country has 11% international students overall. Photo: Swaansfotografie/Pixabay </figure>
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<small><strong>About Claudia Civinini</strong><br></small>
<small>Born and bred in Genoa, Italy, Claudia moved to Australia
during her masters degree to teach Italian. She studied and worked in
Melbourne for five years before moving to London, where she finally
managed to combine her love for writing and her passion for education.
She worked for three years as a reporter for the EL Gazette before
joining The PIE News.</small>
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<p>The minister also supported the idea of giving universities the means to manage student inflow</p>
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<p>The letter came in response to the internationalisation agenda of the
Association of Dutch Universities (VSNU), and to concerns about the
increasing numbers of international students and of English-taught
courses.</p>
<p>Ingrid van Engelshoven called on institutions to “take
responsibility” to ensure that higher education remains accessible to
Dutch students, and that the use of English is substantiated by a
rationale and labour market needs and “adds value” to the course.</p>
<blockquote><p>“We are slightly worried about the heavy regulation on the use of English that is implied in the letter”</p></blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://lsvb.nl/2018/06/04/studentenbond-teleurgesteld-in-aanmoediging-internationalisering-onderwijs/">National Student Union</a>
was disappointed that stricter rules were not imposed by the minister
on the use of English as a language of instruction – arguing that
prevalence of EMI jeopardises accessibility.</p>
<p>The minister also supported the idea of giving universities the means
to manage student inflow, as advocated by the VSNU in an
internationalisation agenda submitted to the minister in May.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nuffic.nl/en">Nuffic</a> said it is “optimistic”
about the minister’s letter, praising in particular her focus on
internationalisation for the VET sector, the stress on the importance of
intercultural and language competences, and on talent recruitment.</p>
<p>It also welcomed the minister’s emphasis on the importance of
teachers’ language skills when involved in English-taught courses, an
issue the ministry had asked Nuffic to consult on.</p>
<p>As for the government’s stance on language policy, Nuffic said the
picture is balanced – there will be additional checks but the minister
is also planning to relax legislation on the use of second languages in
the higher education system.</p>
<p>“Her approach does not discourage foreign taught programs overall but
stimulates institutions to make coordinated and advised choices that
guarantee availability of sufficient Dutch taught programs in our
system,” a Nuffic spokesperson told <em>The PIE News</em>.</p>
<p>VSNU’s Bart Pierik told <em>The PIE</em> that the association welcomed the minister’s letter.</p>
<p>“It’s obvious that the minister has acknowledged our concerns and
intentions, she also states that she is willing to explore the new
measures we propose to continue the positive international influences on
Dutch higher education, whilst guaranteeing the accessibility for Dutch
students,” he said.</p>
<p>“We are slightly worried about the heavy regulation on the use of English that is implied in the letter,” Pierik added.</p>
<p>VSNU’s internationalisation agenda encompassed several key
internationalisation areas, including increasing outward mobility,
attracting and retaining foreign talent and increasing the “stay rate”
for international graduates. But it also dealt with some “urgent
issues.”</p>
<p>These issues include accommodation <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/housing-shortage-in-netherlands-underlines-capacity-strain/">shortages</a>,
inclusivity and accessibility for Dutch students, and a hotly debated
topic – English medium instruction, which has recently seen two
universities being taken to <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/05/maastricht-twente-universities-may-face-court-for-having-too-many-english-courses/">court</a> by Better Education Netherlands for offering “too many” courses in English.</p>
<p>“We made several proposals,” Pierik told <em>The PIE</em>.</p>
<p>“The main point is: internationalisation of higher education is a
good thing. But it also requires [that] universities… are very careful
ensuring accessibility of education. The market for student
accommodation also needs attention, and so do the language skills of
teachers.”</p>
<p>For Pierik, the “backlash” against English is not that widespread, but it’s something the sector has taken on board.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Universities need to make sure that courses are also offered in Dutch – this is something we take up as a sector”</p></blockquote>
<p>“I think that influx of English in higher education is a development
that some people are not too enthusiastic about, but I don’t think
there’s a big movement against it,” he continued.</p>
<p>“But universities need to make sure that courses are also offered in
Dutch – this is something we take up as a sector,” he explained.</p>
<p>VSNU also recommended managing and redistributing the flow of
international students, which is currently imbalanced in favour of
research universities.</p>
<p>It further recommended restrictions for English-medium tracks, the
possibility to impose a cap on the number of non-EEA students and to
charge them higher tuition fees and include ‘diversity’ as a criterion
for selection.</p>
<p>The association added that if the student influx increases (due to
“unforeseen international developments” such as Brexit) universities
wouldn’t be able to absorb it without extra investment.</p>
<p>Studyportals CEO Edwin van Rest told <em>The PIE</em> that although
the country has experienced an impressive growth, it only has 11%
international students, compared with 18% in the UK.</p>
<p>Commenting on the minister’s letter, he said: “we are happy about the
recognition of the economic and quality value that international
education brings.”</p>
<p>“For both the sustainability of the Dutch economy as for its top
universities, it will be important to improve the ability to attract top
students and faculty to the Netherlands. Given the ageing population,
number of attracted students in total will start to count too.”</p></div></section>
<br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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