These WUR-students are protesting in The Hague today against the government’s plans. Second to the right Christel Konings. The slow study fine is one of the austerity measures proposed by the cabinet. University students who take longer than four years to complete their programme are impacted; they have to pay an additional 3000 euros in tuition fees. This is very concerning, according to student Christel Konings. ‘Board work is also study work.’
Yes, the timing of the demonstration against the government plans to cut budgets in tertiary education is less than ideal for Wageningen students, as it is in the middle of the self-study week. But no, that is not a reason not to go to the Koekamp in The Hague today. Christel Konings (23), a bachelor’s student in Animal Sciences, and Melanie Kieboom (24), a master’s student in Nutrition and Health, are on their way to The Hague by train at around eleven this morning. In The Hague, they meet up with over ten other Wageningen students. Christel, who also serves on the board of the Wageningen Chamber of Association (Dutch acronym W.K.v.V.), has a sign with the slogan: Board work is also study work.
Christel: ‘As a Chamber, we are joining today because serving on the board for a year is now being discouraged due to the slow study fine. Serving on a board automatically saddles you with a one-year delay. It is currently unclear whether a board year will be considered an exception. However, whether exceptions will be made for students who are also elite athletes or who become ill is also unclear. That lack of clarity is what we are most concerned about, as well as the speed at which this fine is being implemented. Getting sufficient students to serve on boards and committees is challenging as it is, and we are gravely concerned as to whether student associations and clubs will survive. Some positions are full-time. The AID board, for example, which organises the annual introduction, costs time, which means putting your studies on hold. But politicians seem to have forgotten that serving on a board is also an excellent learning experience. You learn so much that you can’t learn in lectures.’
Negated
Additionally, Christel states that with this measure, serving on a board will become a luxury reserved for students who can afford to pay the fine. She also feels that the planned budget cuts in tertiary education -increased tuition fees and lower basic grants- are a bad idea. ‘There is already a lot of pressure on students, and this will only increase that. Everything we achieved in these past years to raise awareness for student well-being is negated in one fell swoop.’
The demonstration is organised by the National Student Union (LSVb). A total of some thousand attended the demonstration.
