Update Executive Board: Implications of caretaker government for the university
The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.
As you may know, the Schoof government has collapsed and early parliamentary elections have been scheduled for 29 October. What does this mean for our university?
A caretaker government is now in place, and, on 24 June, the House of Representatives will decide which topics will be declared ‘controversial’, meaning they will no longer be considered until a new government has been formed. During the Education, Culture and Science Committee meeting on 19 June, no topics were declared controversial.
This means that the Balanced Internationalisation Act (WiB), which aims to regulate the intake of international students, is likely to be addressed this calendar year.
The universities’ offer of ‘self-governance’ to the caretaker Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Bruins, remains unchanged. This offer is intended to mitigate the effects of both the WiB and the proposed assessment of non-Dutch-taught programmes (Toets Anderstalig Onderwijs, TAO). The TAO could lead to uncertain outcomes and potentially much larger budget cuts for many degree programmes. Bruins has previously indicated that he will consider the universities’ proposal and will soon present an amended version of the legislation.
For our university, this self-governance means phasing out the English-taught Psychology track from September 2027 at the soonest (see our update from 15 April). By making this offer – where all psychology programmes in the Randstad area would be taught in Dutch – to the minister, we aim to spare our other bachelor’s programme from the disruptive effects of the TAO and the uncertainty it would bring. A key condition for ‘self-governance’ is that the TAO be withdrawn.
We would like to reiterate that we fully understand how great a sacrifice this is for our psychology programme. We want to express our deep appreciation for this, as well as for the constructive dialogue we’ve had with both administrators and staff. We are also coordinating this process carefully with the participation bodies.
We recognise the immense value of the Institute of Psychology and emphasise that, especially in times of complex societal challenges, social science research and teaching are indispensable. The Institute and its programmes are highly regarded nationally and internationally and attract exceptional talent.
We will continue to keep you informed of developments in the weeks ahead.