Groningen Sees Peaceful Protest Against Budget Cuts in Higher Education
- Job Doornhof & Anna Milovanovic
- Nov 15, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2024
Hundreds of Dutch as well as international students and professors protested on Thursday afternoon against the Dutch government's planned budget cuts in higher education. They gathered at Grote Markt in Groningen in defiance of the cancellation of a nationwide student protest in Utrecht that had been scheduled for the same day.
The nationwide protest had been cancelled late Wednesday, by the Utrecht Triangle (police, mayor, and public prosecutor). The Triangle was concerned that pro-Palestinian protesters would disrupt the event. This comes on the backdrop of over 60 arrests following violence on Amsterdam’s streets, linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, less than a week prior.
The Utrecht protest was organised to address the September-announced budget cuts that saw a total EUR 1 billion reduction in funds for education, as reported by NOS. This includes the discontinuation of starter grants and incentive grants, the introduction of a long study penalty for students, and a decrease in English-taught programmes.
Several speeches were delivered by university staff members, students and union members at the Groningen protest. The crowd held banners with slogans including “Books, Not Bombs!”, “He Who Doesn’t Want To Sow, Will Not Harvest”, and “Stop The Demolition,” in Dutch and English. Several Palestinian flags were also on display.
One of the protest organisers, Hans Wilke, assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen (UG), told The Glass Room, “I think the demonstration went well. It was very busy, there were a lot of people.”
Impact on International Students
A total 16% of all students in Dutch higher education were international in 2023-24, up from 14.8% the previous academic year, reports Nuffic, a Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education.
Protesters expressed their fears that creating a national policy to reduce these numbers could create a more hostile environment for international students, reduce the diversity of thought in local academia, negatively impact the global competitiveness of Dutch universities, and adversely affect university budgets.
Sebastian Garcia Welman, an international student from Latin America, said that he may not be able to continue receiving his grant from the Service for the Execution of Education (DUO), which could force him to work an unsustainable amount of hours. “They have been cutting DUO financing for a long time now, but Geert Wilders [leader of the right-wing populist PVV, the biggest political party in the Dutch House of Representatives] has made it a very specific thing to target international students like myself,” he said.
With a reduction in available English-taught programmes, and a lower acceptance rate, several protesters said that the Netherlands could become less appealing to international students.
Impact on Teachers
The University of Groningen is already implementing a vacancy freeze in anticipation of these cuts. Groningen Mail reports the UG may also have to cut 210 full-time positions and find 23 million euros in savings annually by 2026.
Therefore, some professors came out to support their colleagues, several of whom are uncertain about whether they will still be employed past the next academic year.
“We need more people to deal with the pressure, but also to keep the standards of education and research at the level that we have now. We need a bit more. Everybody agrees. And now we’re getting less, because of the budget cuts. So that’s one of the reasons why I’m participating,” said Professor Nasser Kalantar-Nayestanaki, of the Faculty of Science & Engineering.
One UG lecturer, who wished to remain anonymous, mentioned that the proposed budget cuts are lowering morale among the faculty and some are already looking for jobs elsewhere. The lecturer added that colleagues are applying in places where they can more easily secure research grants.
Crossovers with Palestine
At the demo, there was also a group of pro-Palestinian protesters waving their flags. The connection between the national budget and the conflict in Israel and Palestine was made several times by the speakers. The assumption articulated in numerous speeches was that the funding that was cut from the Ministry of Education will be reallocated to the Ministry of Defense, which will include military support for Israel. Therefore, the events in the Middle East added an extra dimension to this protest against budget cuts.
“That connection to the war economy and Gaza is very important. Just like the fact that we’re talking about a far right government, about an anti-immigration sentiment. All those things play a role in how those decisions to make budget cuts in education, health, and journalism, come into existence,” organiser Wilke said.
Meanwhile, Fay, a master’s student of English, said she was in favour of mentioning the Pro-Palestine movement but also stated, “it sometimes can be a little bit dividing to people because I see people who are maybe not as invested in the Israel issue (...) and I think some people may be scared around the whole discourse of it all.”
Nevertheless, the protesters tried to send a clear message to the government saying that they reject the budget cuts to higher education and that they want the government to consider how the budget cuts impact all aspects of society.
Job Doornhof, Anna Milovanovic
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