Dutch Universities Want to Reduce Number of Int’l Students In a Bid to Maintain Quality of Education

Dutch universities are planning to impose new rules to curb the number of international students coming from outside the European Zone.

According to the Head of Universities of Netherlands (UNL), Pieter Duisenberg, such measures are necessary in order to keep the quality of education high and better manage the workload. In addition, the Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf stated that volumes of international students should be manageable and promised to take this for discussion to parliament, Erudera.com reports.

These statements follow reports that the total number of students enrolled in Dutch higher education institutions has marked a new record, reaching a total of 340,360- four percent more compared to the previous year. International students have increased by 13 percent, peaking at 800,000.

Moreover, the number of newly admitted students at universities of applied sciences jumped by 0.4 percent to 492,519. The competent authorities noticed that the total number of students is lower than in the 2020-2021 academic year when a significant number of students were enrolled in Dutch universities.

“Coronavirus had a major effect on the influx of students in higher professional education. That effect now seems to have worked itself out,” Chairman Maurice Limmen of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences said.

The number of students registered in this program fell by 17 percent throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. Nursing courses witnessed a lesser decline as only 1.3 percent fewer students were registered in this sector which has struggled with staff shortages for years.

Nurses are in hot demand throughout almost all 27-nation-bloc, as recently, the Norwegian government added 300 extra study places for nursing courses in the national universities. The government added about NOK 14.5 million and also promised another 200 spots to be added by Autumn.

“Having enough professionals in the health and care services where people live is an important goal for the government. The pandemic has made it even clearer that we need more nurses and specialist nurses. We are now increasing the educational capacity at colleges and universities from Agder in the south to Nordland in the north,” Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe, said.

Norway recently has also distributed a NOK 170 million fund to student organizations, universities, colleges, and other educational institutions in a bid to help them maintain their academic progress despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, state universities and colleges will benefit from a  NOK 82 million fund, which is distributed based on the number of students at each institution, whereas private colleges have received NOK 11 million.

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