Published on Eurydice (https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice) 2021 Financial compensation for students to be extended News item | 21-01-2021 | 17:05 The temporary scheme compensating students in secondary vocational and higher education (MBO, HBO and WO) who are disadvantaged by the coronavirus measures will be extended until the end of August 2021. Students whose studies are delayed due to the measures and who graduate between February 2021 and the end of August 2021 will receive a one-off contribution towards their study costs. All students whose entitlement to a basic grant and/or a supplementary grant ends between October 2020 and the end of August 2021 will also receive a financial contribution. In addition, the enrolment deadline for secondary vocational education (MBO) courses has been extended by one month to 1 May 2021. The extension package is expected to cost a total of €135 million and comes out of the €200 million already reserved for compensation to students. Contribution towards study costs Secondary vocational schools, institutions of higher professional education (HBO institutions) and universities are making every effort to enable all final-year students to get their qualifications as planned, despite the coronavirus measures. Unfortunately, this will not be possible for everyone due to the limitations of online learning and the cancellation of many work placements. Accordingly, the temporary scheme for financial compensation to students in secondary vocational and higher education which was due to end on 31 January will now be extended until 31 August 2021. Students who get their qualification before 31 August will receive a one-off contribution towards their study costs. The amount varies for the different types of education: €150 for students in block or day- release (BBL) courses, €300 for students in school-based vocational training (BOL) and €535 for students in higher education. Supplementary grant Under the extended scheme, one-off contributions will be paid to students whose right to the basic grant (MBO-BOL) and/or the supplementary grant expires between 1 October 2020 and the end of August 2021 (the scheme’s previous deadline was 30 September 2020). Students in school-based vocational training (BOL) receiving a basic grant will get €800. Those receiving the basic grant and a supplementary grant will get a one-off payment of €2,000. Higher education students receiving the supplementary grant will get a one-off payment of €1,500. Enrolment deadline for secondary vocational education (MBO) extended by one month Students who wish to do a course in secondary vocational education (MBO) must enrol no later than 1 May 2021. The enrolment deadline has been extended by a month, as most of this orientation now has to take place online and future students need to have enough time to explore the options and make a sound choice. The deadline of 1 May already applies to young people enrolling in higher education (HBO institutions and universities). 2020 Reintroduction of lottery-based course admissions News item | 11-12-2020 | 15:00 In order to combat inequality of opportunity and ensure courses are broadly accessible, higher education institutions (HBO institutions and universities) may draw lots to select students for courses where a quota (numerus fixus) applies. Drawing lots will be one of the instruments that educational institutions are permitted to use. The reintroduction of this instrument will require an amendment to the Higher Education and Research Act. The cabinet has approved education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven’s proposal to this end. Inequality of opportunity Since 2013, students applying for courses with a limited number of places have been selected by the educational institution based on at least two qualitative criteria, such as their marks and an interview about their motivation. The Inspectorate of Education found that the group of students enrolled in these courses is less diverse than those in other courses. This suggests that courses with student quotas may be less accessible to some groups. Lottery-based admission is one way to tackle this problem. Tailored approach Several educational institutions have indicated a preference for a more tailored approach in their selection procedures. This is why the proposed amendment would introduce drawing lots as a permitted form of selection for all associate degree programmes and bachelor’s degree programmes with a quota. Institutions can opt to use drawing lots as the only selection instrument or in addition to their current selection procedure based on at least two qualitative criteria. In a weighted draw, the results of the qualitative selection criteria count towards the candidate’s chance of winning a place. Additionally, an institution may opt to admit a certain number of applicants based on the selection criteria and then allocate the remaining places by drawing lots. This approach also helps reduce the inequality of opportunity. The cabinet has agreed to submit the bill to the Council of State for its advisory opinion. The text of the bill and the advisory opinion will be published when the bill is sent to the House of Representatives. Education ministry earmarks €1.4 million for innovative online higher education News item | 28-05-2020 | 11:00 Today the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and SURF, the collaborative IT organisation for education and research in the Netherlands, jointly opened the latest round of the Open and Online Higher Education grant scheme. This multiannual scheme provides grants of up to €175,000 each to innovative and experimental online projects in higher education. Education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven has made €1.4 million available for this round. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science wants to encourage institutions of higher professional education (HBO institutions) and universities to boost the quality of education and to share, reuse and improve high-quality collections of open learning materials. The Open and Online Higher Education grant scheme was introduced in 2015, and grant rounds are held annually. The ministry runs the scheme jointly with SURF. Surge in demand Education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven: ‘This existing scheme was already fulfilling the sector’s need for funding for this type of activity. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in demand for online education, and I expect that higher education institutions will want to push for more innovation and greater collaboration on online learning materials. Through this scheme I’m encouraging teachers and other education professionals to take their online higher education projects to a higher level, and to make this form of teaching even more attractive and challenging for students.’ Virtual reality One of the earliest online education projects to benefit from the scheme is ‘PleitVRij’, a programme for law students. It uses virtual reality to pit students against each other in a virtual courtroom in order to practise the various skills needed in legal proceedings. They also receive peer feedback in real time. A prime example of open learning materials can be found in the project ‘Samen HBO Verpleegkunde’ (‘Teaming up for nursing education’) in which five HBO institutions have jointly set up a platform for teachers and students to develop, share, assess and reuse learning materials. To date, 17 institutions have joined this learning community. Applications The new round for applications under the Open and Online Higher Education grant scheme starts today. On Wednesday 17 June there will be an informative online meeting for education professionals, where SURF and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will explain how the scheme works. The meeting is open to all interested parties. More information can be found on the SURF website. An extra €500 million for students and summer schools News item | 15-05-2020 | 15:30 The government is earmarking almost €500 million in extra funding for education. Some €200 million will go to students in higher education to help cushion the impact of the coronavirus measures on them. An additional €244 million will be invested in primary, secondary and secondary vocational education to address learning loss caused by the crisis. Tuition fee compensation for students Students in secondary vocational and higher education who need to re-register for the coming academic year in order to get their qualification between September 2020 and the end of January 2021 will receive a one-off contribution towards their tuition fees. In addition, every student whose right to a basic or supplementary grant expires in July, August or September 2020 will also be entitled to compensation under this scheme. Study delay In response to the coronavirus measures, secondary vocational and higher education institutions have had to switch to online teaching as far as possible. Although every effort is made to prevent study delay, this will inevitably affect work placements, clinical placements and practical lessons. Students in their final year cannot put off doing parts of their course until next year. Accordingly, all students who need to re-register for the coming academic year in order to get their qualification between September 2020 and the end of January 2021 will receive compensation roughly equal to three months of fees for their education and/or training programmes. The amounts are as follows: €150 per student in block or day-release vocational training (BBL), €300 per student in school-based vocational training (BOL) and €535 per student in higher education. Supplementary grant The government is also introducing a measure specifically for students whose right to a basic grant (for school-based vocational training (BOL)) and/or a supplementary grant is due to expire in July, August or September 2020. These students will receive a one-off payment, as follows: €800 per BOL student with a basic grant, €2,000 per BOL student with a basic and a supplementary grant and €1,500 per higher education student with a supplementary grant.