Dutch students are being disadvantaged by ‘English madness’

[pieter]

Dutch student hopefuls are being disadvantaged by ‘English madness’

January 26, 2018



Dutch students risk losing out on university places because of the surge in foreign students attracted by degree courses in English, the Telegraaf said on Friday. In an article headlined ‘stop the English madness’, the paper said the situation is a particular problem in courses where the universities have introduced limits on student numbers. ‘Internationalisation is a good thing but if the over-representation of foreign students becomes a problem, universities should ask themselves if they should be offering certain subjects in English,’ said Pieter Duisenberg, chairman of the Dutch universities association VSNU. This year, 101 degree courses offered by universities and hbo colleges have some form of limits on student numbers or entry qualifications. And earlier this week, it emerged that 594 Dutch students have applied for the 600 places to study psychology in English at the University of Amsterdam – as have 1,260 foreign students. ‘All psychology degrees, apart from in Utrecht, are now in English,’ said Tariq Sewbaransingh, of the national student union LSVB. ‘We are worried about Dutch students’ access while we have a shortage of psychologists in the Netherlands.’ Subjects such as dentistry, pharmacology, Dutch law and even Dutch literature are now being taught in English. ‘You should be able to justify why a course is being offered in English,’ Delft University spokesman Michel van Baal told the paper. ‘Aeronautical engineering is a logical subject to offer in English and we have a lot of foreign students,’ Van Baal said. ‘But we do hardly any marketing and we don’t want to grow. We are at our limits.’ Erasmus The paper says the most popular course among foreign students may well be International Business Administration, offered by Erasmus University in Rotterdam. In total, 2605 foreign students and 767 Dutch students have applied for one of the 550 places. The share of Dutch students taking the degree course is around 35%. ‘It is important that enough Dutch students are able to take the course, if they are motivated and qualified,’ course director Adri Meijdam told the Telegraaf. Foreign students The number of foreign students in the Netherlands has doubled in the past 10 years, hitting some 80,000 in the 2016/17 academic year, according to a report by international education group Nuffic at the end of last year. In 2016, the Volkskrant reported that 60% of the 1,632 different degree courses at the country’s 13 universities are now in English. When it comes to master’s degrees, just 30% are taught in Dutch and three universities only offer master’s degrees in English. The surge in English at universities has also led to complaints about poor standards. In 2016, almost 60% of students in a poll by students union LSVB said they had been confronted with incomprehensible lecturers.

[karl]

Pieter

I should stand to wonder for why so many foreign students would attend universities in the Netherlands and then choose English speaking subjects. The natural question with this, would be why not to make it simple and study in their respective English speaking home country..

Karl

[pieter]

Jan 26, 2018 18:24:11 GMT -7 karl said:

Pieter

I should stand to wonder for why so many foreign students would attend universities in the Netherlands and then choose English speaking subjects. The natural question with this, would be why not to make it simple and study in their respective English speaking home country..

Karl

Karl,

My answer is, because many of these foreign students don't come from English speaking home countries. These are Indonesian, German, French, Austrian, Italian, Polish, Czech, African, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, Chinese, Swedish and yes also a few US, Canadian and British exchange students. The latter will have more difficulties in the near future due to Brexit. But your question is justified Karl. Is it because the Dutch education system is so excellent. Is it because they hope that after their study they can get a job in the Netherlands? I don't know what their motivation is. Fact is that there are a lot of exchange students all over Europe.







Cheers,
Pieter

[Jaga]

Pieter,

my question is - why Dutch universities do not offer these classes in Dutch? If they expect Dutch psychologists to stay in Netherlands they should offer some Dutch courses, otherwise I am not surprised that foreigners come in.
Do foreigners pay for their studies, or it depends whether they are a part of EU or not? Does the university has a financial profit on foreigners?

In the past in Poland it was also difficult to study psychology, since the limit was low. The limit at different study major was limited by predicted employability. Psychology was always popular... probably since it seems to be interesting subject with no math.

[karl]

Jan 26, 2018 23:55:34 GMT -7 Jaga said:

Pieter,

my question is - why Dutch universities do not offer these classes in Dutch? If they expect Dutch psychologists to stay in Netherlands they should offer some Dutch courses, otherwise I am not surprised that foreigners come in.
Do foreigners pay for their studies, or it depends whether they are a part of EU or not? Does the university has a financial profit on foreigners?

In the past in Poland it was also difficult to study psychology, since the limit was low. The limit at different study major was limited by predicted employability. Psychology was always popular... probably since it seems to be interesting subject with no math.

Jaga

I was chuckling a bit with the Psychology studies you brought out, for also this was popular as a walk through subject whist attendance in the university. With though, not advisable to take with Psychology would be Sociology for I did so take both at the same time, and suffered for it until one professor determinded my problems after researching my classes. For Psychology is the world in side our heads, whilst sociology is the world out side our heads. After that, my grades picked up very well. With these two subjects, were tools for later studies in Anthropology, International affairs and International law.

Karl

[pieter]

Jan 26, 2018 23:55:34 GMT -7 Jaga said:

Pieter,

my question is - why Dutch universities do not offer these classes in Dutch? If they expect Dutch psychologists to stay in Netherlands they should offer some Dutch courses, otherwise I am not surprised that foreigners come in.
Do foreigners pay for their studies, or it depends whether they are a part of EU or not? Does the university has a financial profit on foreigners?

In the past in Poland it was also difficult to study psychology, since the limit was low. The limit at different study major was limited by predicted employability. Psychology was always popular... probably since it seems to be interesting subject with no math.

Good question. Maybe they think Dutch is a very small language, a language which is spoken in a very limeted space of the Netherlands and the Flanders in Belgium, some Caribbean islands and Suriname in Southern-America. Maybe English language education is good for both Dutch and foreign students.

[karl]

Pieter

I am not sure if you agree with this, whilst also my self a student at the University in Bonn, had heard also this: as provided in the attending url that follows:

www.topuniversities.com/blog/top-7-reasons-study-netherlands

For as my studies and topics were assigned for me, was also the university to attend. Upon graduation, was then to attend the Academy for the next 9 weeks for civil service with 2 weeks orientation before assignment.

Karl

[pieter]

I completely agree with this Top Universities written by Amanda Sulivan. Having with a Dutch father, speaking Dutch and studying a master's in strategic marketing in Maastricht, the Netherlands, she will know what she is writing and speaking about. She is what we call in Dutch, een ervaringsdeskundige, een expert by experience. It is true that Tthe most recognized universities in the Netherlands include the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University and Utrecht University. But the Free University in Amsterdam and the universities of Groningen (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen), Tilburg University (in North Brabant), the Maastricht School of Management, the Nyenrode Business University, the Technical University of Delft, the Technical University of Eindhoven, the University of Twente (also a Technical University like Delft and Eindhoven), Wageningen University & Research (mainly agricultural university) and the Protestant (Calvinist) Theological Universities of Amsterdam, Groningen, Kampen and Apeldoorn aren't bad either. And on my Penisula of my youth, Walcheren, in the South-Western Zeeland province and area, in the city of Middelburg you have the University College Roosevelt: a Liberal Arts and Sciences College with a vibrant academic community and a buzzing student life. It attracts international students from the US, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland, the UK, Romania, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Bulgaria and many other countries.

These are the pictures taken during the conference day of the Student Research Conference 2017 at University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.


International students at the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.


At the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.


At the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.


At the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.


Graduates of the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg.





I really love the fact that University College Roosevelt is present in Middelburg. The atmosphere and cultural climate in the city has improved a lot since I knew it in my youth (1970-1990) when the College wasn't there. Middelburg is the capital of both Zeeland and the center of the Peninsula Walcheren, the muncipality adminstration and the provincial administration are located in the city next to a court and lot's of highschools and vocational universities like the Zeeland college and Middle level education centers. University college students mingle with the local highschool students, HBO (Dutch vocational universities) and MOB (Middle level education) students and working youth very well. Middelburg is a nice city with good pubs, café's (bars), restaurants, a good public library a nice historical town, sports facilities and Discotheque de Hooizolder (The hay attic) nearby at the Walcheren coast in Westkapelle, maybe 10 miles away.

University College Roosevelt (UCR), formerly known as Roosevelt Academy, is a small, selective, honors undergraduate liberal arts and science college located in Middelburg in the Netherlands and the sole university in Zeeland. It offers a residential setting, and is an international honors college of Utrecht University. For more info read this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_Roosevelt

[pieter]

[pieter]