Wet internationalisering in balans

Reactie

Vraag1

Om heel eerlijk te zijn, vind ik deze maatregelen in het wetvoorstel xenophobisch. Dit is niet hoe dit behandeld moet worden, en ik schaam me eigenlijk om Nederlands te zijn. Kan Nederland echt niet beter doen?

Ik ben een PhD student (Wageningen Universiteit), en heb mijn MSc en BSc (allebei engels-talig) in Nederland gedaan. Juist omdat er studenten uit andere landen waren, heb ik ongelooflijk geleerd- niet alleen over andere culturen, maar juist over verschillende perspectieven voor mijn onderzoek in duurzaamheid. De problemen die we nu hebben zijn “wicked problems”- ze zijn te complex om alleen maar met een perspectief aan te pakken. Deze maatregelen zorgen dus voor een groot stap achteruit.

Het volgende in het engels:
I agree with the Young Academies of the 4 Dutch technical universities - University of Twente, Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and Wageningen University & Research - who submitted a joint letter last week to the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) and the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science (OCW) on the Taalwet and internationalisation of the universities.

They outline the following concerns:
- The risk that talented international scholars may be dissuaded from applying for positions or staying in the Netherlands;
- There could be fewer international graduates entering the country's tech and engineering sectors;
- Students could miss out on being exposed to the diversity of perspectives and experiences an international classroom can offer;
- The workload would significantly increase in the short term for all faculty, with Dutch-speaking educators taking on additional teaching loads while their international peers work to attain C1-equivalent language skills;
- The proportion of international students varies significantly across Dutch higher education institutions, relative to geography and specialisation, meaning that not all Dutch universities encounter the same challenges.

Vraag2

I agree with their suggestions on how to address this instead:
- Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, address internationalisation challenges at the university and study programme level, taking into account characteristics of student enrollment, study programme objectives, sectors with workforce shortages, and staff workload;
- Instead of focusing on the language of the study programmes themselves, offer international staff and students Dutch language training to greater inclusion in Dutch society and the labour market;
  - Give permission for the development of a parallel Dutch-language track in study programmes that would potentially be exempt from Dutch-language quotas to enable greater accessibility for Dutch-speaking students.