Universiteit Leiden

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Education

Reaction to letter to Parliament on internationalisation

21 April 2023

Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) wants to take a number of concrete measures to gain better control and direction over the number of international students coming to the Netherlands. He also wants the Dutch language to be preserved and strengthened in education. This was the content of a letter from Minister Dijkgraaf to the House of Representatives on 21 April.   

Dijkgraaf is keen to apply a long-term and targeted approach to ensure that the high quality of universities of applied sciences and research universities and their leading international position are safeguarded. More information on the content of the letter can be found on the website of Universities of the Netherlands.

The Executive Board understands that this letter to the House of Representatives and reports regarding it may cause some concern and uncertainty among international students and staff. 'We are happy that the long-expected letter has now been published and that the Minister has indicated that he wishes to enter into discussion with the universities on this issue. We will continue our commitment to our international students and staff. They are and will remain an important and valued part of the academic community in our international research university. The international students who are currently studying with us and those who have enrolled for the coming academic year are still very welcome here. The same also applies for our international staff,' Hester Bijl stated on behalf of the Executive Board. 

The Executive Board will first consider what the consequences are of the measures announced by the Minister for the internationalisation policy of our university. More information will follow as soon as we have more clarity on this.

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