Dutch colleges and universities will only give around 30% of lessons on location this academic year, but first years will be given priority, university association chief Pieter Duisenberg has told BNR radio.

Duisenberg told the broadcaster that the quality of online lessons is not as good as in the physical classroom, but that universities are doing the best they can, given social distancing regulations.

‘Everything was focused on minimising delays, but everyone has come to realise how important physical teaching is,’ he said. ‘You will not hear me say that the quality is as good as education on location, no, absolutely not.’

However, 30% of lessons on location is an improvement on previous months, and the quality of lessons means official standards, Duisenberg said.

Dahran Çoban chairman of student’s association Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg told the broadcaster that being a student is about more than sitting in a lecture theatre.

‘Studying is about broad social development,’ Coban said. ‘It is about organising yourself, about joining a student club, about being enterprising and about having your say. This is all a lot more difficult at a distance.’

This year the government has said that freshers’ week events for new students can only go ahead if they do not involve alcohol, finish early and focus on educational issues.