Minister asks universities to stop recruiting international students – The Northern Times

Dutch universities and colleges Said Education Minister Robert Dyckgraf (D66) said student recruitment had to stop citing housing concerns, a lack of learning facilities and an increased workload for faculty.

The Minister wrote a three-page letter to the Rectors of Higher Education Institutions regarding the international recruitment of the sector as part of ongoing consultations between the Ministry of Education and the affiliated organizations (Netherlands Universities and the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences). sent. strategy.

Dyckgraf said he welcomed a moratorium under which schools would stop recruiting new international students, except in areas where trained professionals are in short supply or in areas with declining populations.

Concerns mentioned concerned whether schools would be able to manage the well-being of incoming freshmen and whether the necessary educational delivery standards would be put in place.

Specifically, the minister questioned whether the university would be able to ensure adequate accommodation for new arrivals. The concern is that students may need to seek help from the state if suitable accommodation is not available.

Despite the problems outlined in Dijkgraaf’s letter, Dutch universities are still very popular among foreign students. On average, international students make up two-fifths of all her first-year students at a Dutch university. CBS Bureau of Statistics.

“In the 2021/’22 academic year, 115,000 international students entered higher education, a 3.5-fold increase from 2005/’06.