Minister blocked: majority in House does not want language test
A majority of the House of Representatives is not in favour of compulsory language tests for English-language bachelor’s programmes. With the so-called “self-regulation”, universities seem to have shot themselves in the foot. “We are still in a state of disarray.”
Next stage in the language test issue: a majority of the House of Representatives is not in favour of compulsory language tests for English-language bachelor's programmes. A motion on this issue will be tabled in the House this afternoon and is expected to be passed by a majority, as the VVD and NSC parties support a CDA motion to scrap the so-called “foreign language education test” for existing bachelor's programmes. This means that the motion has a majority.
However, it is far from certain whether Minister Bruins, himself a member of the NSC, will adopt this motion. He previously stated that the language test is an integral part of the Balanced Internationalisation Act, a law intended to reduce the number of international students. Universities are strongly opposed to this, especially since all bachelor’s programmes, including existing ones, would have to undergo a language test to demonstrate that their English-language bachelor’s programmes are necessary for regional employment, for example.
Condition
The number of international students is already declining significantly, including at the UvA. Nevertheless, the umbrella organisation Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) presented a plan for self-regulation last month, which was also approved by the UvA Board. For the UvA, this would mean, among other things, that the English-language Bachelor’s programme in Psychology would be discontinued as of 2027, despite fierce protests from the psychologists themselves, but on condition that the compulsory language test be removed from the law.
Ashes to ashes
If the minister allows this condition to be fulfilled under pressure from the parliamentary motion, this will create the unusual situation that the English-language Bachelor’s programme in Psychology will disappear. After all, the condition for this – formulated by the universities themselves – will then have been met. Professor of Psychological Methods Han van der Maas therefore says that the problem is far from solved. “We are still in ashes.”
