Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf explained his ideas for better control of international student flows in the Dutch parliament last week. The plans will be further elaborated in the coming months in consultation with higher education. TU/e has major concerns about the proposed curtailment of English-language education. TU/e cherishes its strong international character, which is of immense value in fulfilling its role in the best possible way towards students, the economy of the Brainport region and the Netherlands, societal challenges and science.
In the debate, the minister formulated the starting point that programs are in principle in Dutch, with limited room for exceptions. For TU/e, this principle is worrisome given that almost all our programs are currently in English due to the demands of the labor market, especially in the Brainport region.
TU/e's 'international classroom' educates engineers who are optimally prepared for their future work environment. With English-language education and students of many nationalities working together in our Challenge-based Education, TU/e programs fit seamlessly with both science and the high-tech industry, which are completely international in nature. Reintroducing Dutch-language programs would be counterproductive.
Moreover, converting the programs to Dutch-language programs is extremely difficult for TU/e, as the course material and more than half of our lecturers are international. The recruitment of our scientific staff has an international focus in order to attract enough top lecturers.
In addition, our international character, with English-language courses, helps attract top international talent and educate more engineers. This is an urgent need because the Dutch student intake is insufficient to meet the huge demand for engineers required to create solutions to major societal challenges and to maintain and grow the high-tech industry. In the Brainport region especially, employers are eager for more engineers. Importantly, the percentage of our international graduates who continue to work in the Netherlands after their studies is the highest in the Netherlands. In addition, there is no displacement of Dutch students at TU/e; there was and is room for every Dutch student.
For these reasons, TU/e advocates for room to maintain its international character and English-language programs. The signals from The Hague further cause unease among our international population, which is an integral and indispensable part of our community. For this reason, too, we have concerns about the plans coming from The Hague.
The minister's proposals still need to be worked out further in administrative agreements between the minister and higher education institutions and in legislation. We are involved in this and will make a strong case for maintaining the international character of TU/e, keeping in mind the major interests for students, for the economy of the Brainport region and the Netherlands, paying attention to the sensitivities in the region and the city, and solving societal challenges.
