Personeel

Solid cuts to education and research in general agreement

Today, the coalition-forming parties presented their general agreement. The cuts to education, research and innovation came as a major shock to universities. These plans will damage the future of young people and the Netherlands. Jouke de Vries, acting president of Universities of the Netherlands: ‘The cuts to education and science are a blow to our students and staff who are already under enormous pressure. Together with the sharp intervention in the international nature of universities, these cuts are harming our ability to provide quality education and carry out research. This does not match the coalition-forming parties’ ambition to strengthen the knowledge economy and earning power of the Netherlands. With these cuts, we are putting the future of our country's youth at stake.’

Dutch universities will do even more to improve social safety in their institutes. On 14 May, the Labour Inspectorate presented a study on undesirable behaviour, workload and working hours that showed, among other things, that more than half of all academic staff had experienced undesirable behaviour in the past two years. Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) is shocked by these results. Rianne Letschert, president of the Executive Board of Maastricht University on behalf of UNL: ‘It is unacceptable that so many employees should have to deal with undesirable behaviour. A safe working environment is not only a fundamental right of all staff and students, but also an essential prerequisite for high-quality education and research.’