Three motions were brought against the system of student loans, and two were adopted during the General Review of the new National Budget. It’s the first time such a large majority of MPs expressed their opposition to student loans in the House of Representatives.

SP and Volt each submitted motions; ChristenUnie and CDA presented one together. The SP motion was rejected, but the other two were passed with an overwhelming majority: of the big parties, only VVD voted against.

Tabled motion

Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte had the SP motion tabled, but not the other two. That’s because the SP motion “asks the government” to get started, while the other two motions only “pronounce” that something has to change.

It’s a subtle difference, but it means that the government doesn’t have to take immediate action. Another difference: Volt, ChristenUnie and CDA say nothing about compensation for students who missed out on the basic student grant; SP’s motion includes such action.

The Dutch National Students' Association ISO is celebrating the votes as a triumph. ISO calls it the “coup de grace” for the student loan system and “an occasion for all Dutch students to celebrate”.

But outgoing Prime Minister Rutte warned in advance that launching the new basic student grant would take time. Education Executive Agency DUO is unable to do it overnight and also has other duties, he pointed out.

And yet it seems inevitable that the next government will be closely examining the reintroduction of the basic student grant. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, and how fast.

Funding

For instance, it is not yet known how much funding the next government will be able to spend on re-launching the basic student grant, nor where the money will come from. Will it come from the budget for education?

It also seems unlikely that the basic student grant will make a comeback by the next academic year, as student associations and youth wings of political parties demanded earlier in the week. Who knows—maybe a committee will have to be set up to carefully examine the issue first, after which the Ministry can take its time fine-tuning the draft bill.

Despite the motions adopted, it thus may actually be a couple of years before the House of Representatives and the Senate approve restructuring funding for students.