Education minister Ronald Plasterk should find €150m extra and use it as bonuses for universities and colleges which do better than others. This would encourage them to improve their quality, says the education council on Tuesday.

At the moment quality is not taken into consideration when setting university and college budgets. Instead, money is allotted on the basis of the number of students and graduates. Courses themselves need only attain a basic quality level.
This system does not encourage higher education institutions to try harder, the education council says.