Cut one billion euros from higher education. That starts in January with a cut of 215 million euros from starter grants. A bad development for the Netherlands, says our chairman Annelien Bredenoord on BNR Radio and De Nieuws BV.
'The cuts are not only worrying for the people who work at universities and the students who study there. The coalition agreement states more than 80 times "we solve problems with innovation". How does innovation come about? Through science and education! Cutting back on education and focusing on innovation is impossible together', says Bredenoord.
'We conduct research on so many current themes: the housing crisis, safety issues, crime, climate crisis, democracy and polarization. All so important for the Netherlands.'
Start-up grants disappearing
It is still difficult to estimate how the cuts will affect Dutch universities individually. We do know that the starter and incentive grants will be scrapped as of 1 January. 'Those are grants for young talented scientists. We received that money 1.5 years ago. We made young scientists happy with a permanent contract and various research programmes. Those are long-term obligations.'
Investing in education pays off
Investing in education and science is a better idea, it actually generates money. Bredenoord: 'Every euro you invest in education pays off 2.5 times. Not the year after, but in the long term.'
'Cutting back on education and focusing on innovation is impossible together'
Annelien Bredenoord
Chair Executive Board
Instead of investing, there is now a huge cutback in higher education coming. And fast too. 'There is still a lot of uncertainty, but the worst case scenario is that 10-15% of the entire budget will be lost. That is due to the accumulation of unfavorable measures. Those are major blows. In the short term, you are destroying disciplines and areas of knowledge. We are afraid of a brain drain. People are leaving the Netherlands. Hopefully they will stay in the European Union, but it is also possible that they will go elsewhere. That will take a whole generation before you can restore that.'
Bredenoord concludes: 'The cuts in higher education are not only a problem for universities, but ultimately for the entire Dutch society.'
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Listen to the full interview (in Dutch) on BNR.
Listen to the full interview (in Dutch) on De Nieuws BV.
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