Internationalization: Everyone must learn Dutch

The letter on internationalization in higher education had been postponed several times, to the annoyance of the Lower House, but this afternoon Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf finally sent it to the Lower House. In it, he outlines how he views the influx of international students.

It is good for society and the knowledge economy if international students come here, the minister emphasizes in a press release. ‘But it must be possible to control that flow of students where necessary.’ Otherwise, he says, internationalization leads to ‘overcrowded lecture halls, high teacher workload and lack of housing.’

It also puts pressure on the accessibility of study programs, the minister argues. He does not elaborate on this, but it mainly concerns programs with a numerus fixus. After all, in the selection for those programs, Dutch youngsters must compete against an increasingly large group of students from other countries.

Brake and steering wheel

‘In addition to an accelerator pedal, we also need a brake and especially a steering wheel,’ is Dijkgraaf's conclusion. The D66 minister wants to emphasize that ‘The Netherlands is not an island - on the contrary, we are one of the most internationally connected countries in the world.’

For some sectors, he seems to prefer not to stem the influx. Or as the ministry summarizes it: the minister wants ‘customization’ for studies such as ICT and engineering and for studies in sectors in short supply on the labor market.

Also, the approach will differ by region. According to him, universities and colleges near the German and Belgian border have a ‘different position’ where internationalization is concerned.

Intervention

But what does he want to do? First of all, there will be “a form of central coordination’ to be able to look at the entire education system with social interests in mind. The demand for talent, for example, plays a role in considering the influx of students.

If the system is in danger of being compromised, Minister Dijkgraaf wants to have options to  ‘intervene,’ the press release states. But it is not yet known what that coordination will look like. Its exact form will be worked out in the coming period.

Thus, he is postponing some of his plans once again, as has is not sharing any possible lines of thought for that central direction. This could involve central registration for popular programs (like used to be the case for medicine), so that international students could study in the Netherlands, but perhaps not in the Randstad. Colleges of higher education with customized programs could also absorb some of the large influx. But Dijkgraaf has not yet said anything about that.

Numerus fixus

The minister wants to promote the accessibility of education by changing the rules around the numerus fixus. Programs will soon be allowed to limit intake for a course of study within the program, such as the English-language course of study. Dutch-speaking students can then always enter via the Dutch-language track, while the number of students in the English-language track will be limited.

There will also be an emergency brake if a program is suddenly flooded with students from outside the European Union. If programs threaten to fill up, they can stem the unexpected increase with an “emergency capacity fixus.”

Learning Dutch

Finally, Dijkgraaf wants colleges and universities to start promoting language proficiency in Dutch among all students, including international ones. A better command of Dutch increases their chances in the labor market, is the consideration. It would also increase the likelihood that students from abroad would stay in the Netherlands after their studies.

He also asks colleges and universities to  ‘preserve and strengthen’ the Dutch language in education. He writes:  ‘Dutch is and will remain the main language, with the permitted exceptions being better defined. That makes supervision of this possible.’

This requires a new bill that cannot take effect until September 2024, according to the ministry. So if the House of Representatives accepts it, higher education will continue as before for the next academic year.

Furthermore, Dijkgraaf wants the language of administration at universities and colleges to be, in principle, Dutch. If necessary, it may also be bilingual. He will make  ‘administrative agreements’ about this. Currently, English is the language of administration at the University of Twente and TU Eindhoven. The University of Maastricht is bilingual.

Housing market

Internationalization is one of the most sensitive topics in higher education. Critics believe that many programs are only in English to earn from students from abroad, which allegedly threatens the position of Dutch (and students' language proficiency). Activists have filed lawsuits against Englishification, but they have not turned the tide.

Last academic year, there were 115,000 international students in the Netherlands, according to the ministry. That is 3.5 times as many as in the 2005-2006 academic year. This also leads to problems in the housing market, especially at the beginning of the academic year. Every year there are scenes of freshmen who have to sleep at a campsite because they do not yet have a place to live.

Students should be given proper information about housing, Dijkgraaf believes. Universities and colleges should also be cautious about recruiting foreign students. It would be better if they targeted students for courses in sectors with a shortage on the labor market, for instance. The minister had called for this earlier.

The House of Representatives will debate internationalization with the minister before the summer. Perhaps then there will be more clarity about the  ‘central direction’ that Dijkgraaf has in mind.