The Executive Board of Wageningen University has decided to abandon the idea  of having the teaching timetable run through to nine o'clock at night. The evening lectures are necessary because during the day there is precious little space in the lecture halls of the rapidly growing university.

In May of last year, the plan triggered protests by Wageningen students: it would impinge on their jobs and sporting activities, they feared. The Executive Board proved receptive to their criticism, and came up with a new proposal: the last lectures of the day would finish at seven o'clock in the evening, and morning lectures start at 08.20 instead of 08.30 hrs.

Similarly at TU/e, the cries of joy were not universal  when the Executive Board unveiled its plans at the end of 2015. Since February 2016 there has been 'a limited introduction' of evening lectures, confirms spokesperson Charlotte van den Heuvel. If they are necessary, they are scheduled for the ninth and tenth hours, between 18.15 and 20.00 hrs. First-year Bachelor's students are exempt from evening lectures.

According to Patrick Groothuis, director of the Education and Student Service Center (STU), the number of evening lectures per quarter varies; evening education for (parts of) certain courses is confined mainly to the first and second quarters, he says.  

Groothuis points out that the number of students at TU/e will only increase in the coming years, “while the resources available from the central government budget will not keep pace”. For this reason, evening education will continue, he says, “and also expand”. The extent to which it expands, says the STU director, is currently being explored in “various scenarios” about which he cannot say very much at the present time.

A survey of eight other universities and thirteen universities of applied sciences reveals that at more than half of the institutions full-time students attend classes now and then in the evening hours. Among part-time students this is more prevalent. They usually have jobs that prevent them from taking classes during the daytime.