UvA President: efficiency cuts are ‘very bad’
The efficiency cuts are ‘very bad’, state UvA president Geert ten Dam and UvA rector Karen Maex in an interview. ‘Funding for education has declined dramatically in recent years.’
The so-called ‘efficiency cuts’ (‘doelmatigheidskorting’ in Dutch) ten Dam refers to amount to the €183 million the government is trying to claw back in response to a budget overrun under Rutte II. Ten Dam: ‘We want to increase the quality of attention paid to students in terms of better feedback smaller work groups. With the cuts, that’s not easy.’
In recent years, a number of faculties such as the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences have had to implement serious budget cuts. Ten Dam: ‘You can see it happen before your eyes.’
Last month, a teacher wrote an opinion article on Folia.nl about work groups with up to 38 students. Is this the future? Maex: ‘You sometimes have to take radical measures, and certainly when in transition, but you must always put quality of education first.’ Ten Dam: ‘We must use our influence in government to prompt discussion on the quality of research and education with students and teachers. This is our responsibility. We can not, and will not, hang back.’
Read the full interview in Dutch.
