On the third Tuesday of September, the new government will present its budget for the coming year. On Thursday, the four ruling parties – PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB – spent hours discussing their spending plans.

In an outline agreement, the four parties have already agreed to make substantial cuts that will impact students and higher education institutions. A financial penalty for students who take too long to complete their studies, restrictions on the influx of foreign students, scrapping national sector plan funding... these measures amount to almost a billion euros, depending on how exactly they will be implemented.

Criticism

It is hardly surprising that the plans have met with fierce criticism from the universities and the rest of the sector. They calculate that up to 5,000 jobs are at risk, including the positions of 1,200 young researchers, and are threatening legal action. Universities of applied sciences are also opposing the plans, describing the higher education cuts as “turning the world on its head”.

On Thursday, Education Minister Eppo Bruins replied to parliamentary questions on the issue by the opposition GreenLeft-PvdA party. “I understand the concerns raised by these cuts”, he writes and goes on to assure them that “in formulating government policy, I will take all signals into account”.

Even so, he is going ahead with the budget cuts. These include scrapping the funding of ‘sector plans’ on which universities collaborate at national level: a cutback in excess of 200 million euros.

“Aware”

“I am aware of the value of sector plans and I too hear the signals from the field about their relevance and necessity”, Bruins writes. “But at the same time, financial choices have to be made to meet the budgetary requirements in the outline for our coalition agreement.”

The cuts will first be set out in the government’s programme and then in Bruins’ own policy agenda, due to be announced on Budget Day. “That’s where I will present my plans and how the cuts will fall.”

To date he has defended the cuts by emphasising the government’s determination to safeguard public finances and reduce the burden on households and businesses.

Woke

PVV, the largest coalition party, previously gave more ideological grounds for cutting higher education funding. Without providing underlying arguments, the party insisted in a debate that ‘woke culture’ had come to dominate university life, with political activism taking precedence over scientific integrity. “We are happy to say those days are now over.” The previous Education Minister, Robbert Dijkgraaf, described the PVV’s statements as “unfortunate” and indicative of a desire to settle scores.

How does Bruins view this situation? “The words used have no bearing on my own views”, is his response, without making it entirely clear whether he means the PVV’s words, Dijkgraaf’s or both.

Protests

Next week, the new academic year gets underway at most higher education institutions. Some have started already. Protests against the government’s plans are also due to kick off on Monday with an alternative opening in Utrecht, attended by representatives of unions, students and universities.