In addition to the new basic student grant and compensation for students who were only able to take out student loans in recent years, ISO also wants to see more scope for students’ personal development. There should be less pressure to obtain a diploma as quickly as possible.

Wellbeing

But there’s more. To improve the psychological wellbeing of students, educational institutions, municipalities and the Ministries of Education and Health should be joining forces to improve prevention and support. The Dutch National Student Association uses the term ‘chain approach’ to describe this concept.

The students would also like to see more help for teachers, in the form of additional training and education. As they explain in their agreement, it is crucial that teachers improve their digital teaching skills. Additionally, teachers’ workloads need to be reduced.

ISO has one more item at the top of its wish list: improving participation. A national campaign is required to make participation more visible, explains the agreement. Every higher education institution should also appoint a coordinator to improve the substantive and operational support of participation bodies.

Online

Unfortunately, SER chairperson Mariëtte Hamer – who has also been tasked with forming a new cabinet – was unable to attend the online presentation today due to previously scheduled engagements, but SER member Steven van Eijck responded on her behalf. He was very enthusiastic about the students’ efforts and called the timing brilliant. He also commented on the proposed budget increase of 1.5 billion euros: “I can’t say I’m surprised, and frankly it seems more like a minimum than a maximum amount.”

But ISO was free to draw up its ideal agreement, so why did they settle for 1.5 billion euros? Chairperson Dahran Çoban says this is because they wanted to present a realistic plan. This 1.5 billion is based on a recent report published by consultancy firm PwC.

For the same reason, ISO has not yet come up with an amount for the new basic student grant. Nibud is currently conducting research into the financial position of students, says Çoban, and ISO plans to base its proposal on the results of this research.

Just like the politicians in The Hague, ISO also struggles with certain topics. The agreement states that while there are advantages, internationalisation also puts pressure on both the accessibility and funding of degree programmes. ISO believes that there’s a need for an integrated and comprehensive vision regarding the international aspects of education, and that programme committees should have the right to approve the degree programme’s language of instruction.

A thorny issue

Selection is another thorny issue. According to ISO, selection needs to be limited as much as possible. But lotteries are not a good alternative to selection. If there is a serious lack of available places in a specific degree programme, ISO believes at least one more selection instrument is needed in addition to a lottery, to ensure that the right students get a spot.

It may take some time for a new coalition agreement to be reached, and it is expected that it will be more succinct than usual. The odds are slim that all the subjects in the students’ agreement will be mentioned, let alone agreed on.