Next Thursday, 14 November, a massive national demonstration against the budget cuts in higher education will be held in Utrecht. The protest is also very much alive in Twente. Many staff and students have already indicated they will travel to Utrecht to take part in the protest, and the WhatsApp group for this, an initiative of staff and students, already has more than 400 participants. The Student Union has arranged free bus transport for students (see also their post on Instagram).
The protest will take place on Thursday, 14 November, in Utrecht, from 1pm to 3pm. It will start at Moreelsepark, a few minutes' walk from the railway station, after which participants will walk to Domplein, where a programme with speakers and music will take place.
The Executive Board and the deans of the faculties recently expressed their support for the protest and hope that many staff and students from Twente will take part in the action. They, too, will be present in Utrecht with a delegation. It is important to make a strong voice heard from the entire academic community in the Netherlands.
UT guidelines
UT has drawn up some guidelines for this day. For instance, employees can use special leave and students are not required to be attend classes. Proper arrangements have also been made so that education is affected as little as possible by the protest action.
Societal support
Recently, the business community expressed its concerns about the proposed cuts. Budget cuts in knowledge and innovation are in fact a cut in the future earning capacity of the Netherlands, they wrote.
Consequences for the region
RTV Oost made an extensive series in recent weeks on the possible consequences of cuts in higher education for the region. To do so, they spoke with EB president Vinod Subramaniam, Dennis Schipper, CEO of Demcon, Ank Bijleveld (TwenteBoard) and Saxion president Anka Mulder. The articles are in Dutch, but can be read in other languages, too, using your browser's translation function.
