DutchNews.nl - Universities to get tougher

Home

Opinion

Universities to get tougher

Thursday 30 June 2011

Dutch universities are planning to introduce a range of measures, including compulsory attendance at lectures, in an effort to boost standards, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

The increasing international competition in higher education is forcing Dutch institutions to make changes, Sijbold Norda, head of the universities' association VSNU, says in a briefing to junior education minister Halbe Zijlstra.

As well as making lectures and exams compulsory, the universities want to reduce the number of retakes and increase student selection.

Automatic

At the moment, students automatically get a place on the course of their choice, apart from in very popular subjects such as medicine and law.

The universities also want to introduce a broader bachelor's degree system and an honours degree programme for exceptional students - which the association says would involve around 10% of the total student body.

Ministers are due to discuss Zijlstra's own plans to improve higher education standards at Friday's cabinet meeting.

Zijlstra has already announced plans to increase fees for slow students.

Subscribe Newsletter
Print-version
News archives

Readers' comments

I wish it were true.
But it will never happen because it will hurt poor youngsters' freedom if they cannot pick the study they want.

By joanna | June 30, 2011 9:57 AM

Oh! My!
Nederland's university students do not realize what a gift higher education ,here, is. The costs are minimal and the time frames are all to student's advantage. Go to North America and find out about set rules and very high costs and NO government assistance.

By Keith | June 30, 2011 5:03 PM

To be competitive these changes must take place. Otherwise the Dutch will have to create a law banning more qualified international graduates from taking Dutch jobs in order to preserve places for their lesser prepared university graduates. Think about this!

By Roland | June 30, 2011 5:15 PM

It sounds a good idea 'on paper', but my son has had "compulsory attendance at lectures", with 2 compulsory lectures the same time!
as for increasing fees for 'slow students', what is the critera for slow? this could be tricky to implement.

By jenny | June 30, 2011 5:56 PM

They might also think about increasing the budgets for research and development in order to attract a more motivated and ambitious group of students from here and, most importantly, from abroad.

By Quince | June 30, 2011 7:53 PM

Comments have been closed for this article.

News