Last week, the Senate approved the government’s cutbacks of more than 200 million euros with regard to the starter and incentive grants. It did so in spite of doubts about the legality of the cutbacks. Several universities decided to take legal action. At the very least, these will include Tilburg University and Radboud University, says a report by Universities of the Netherlands. For the time being, TU/e isn’t joining in. However, spokesperson Ivo Jongsma does state that the Executive Board is of the opinion that unilaterally canceling an agreement, “what the government is doing here”, is unacceptable.

In 2022, the previous government entered into an administrative agreement with the universities, promising additional funding. For one thing, it was agreed that the national government would make 300 million euros per year available for starter and incentive grants. At the minister’s insistence, universities began to proactively award these grants. The minister instilled the universities with trust that they would receive the required funding. That agreement has now been broken.

Resistance continues

“That is why we support the universities in their action,” says Jongsma. “As for ourselves, we are waiting to see how things develop before we take any legal steps.” TU/e says it had already anticipated the government cutbacks in its own cost-cutting operation. This affects all departments and services and was initially a reaction to the sharp rise in wage and other costs. Jongsma emphasizes that TU/e still finds the government’s cutbacks disastrous and incomprehensible. “The Dutch government should be investing more in knowledge for the future of the country, instead of making cutbacks.”

The resistance against the government’s policy continues, and not only in court. In recent weeks, various higher education institutions have participated in relay actions, in which they take turns to go on strike for a day. On April 23 it will be Eindhoven’s turn, when students and staff from TU/e and Fontys University of Applied Sciences will also take to the barricades.