An academic year with longer tuition-free periods may alleviate work pressure. Photo Shutterstock The Dutch Ministry of Education and a number of universities are currently talking about a pilot to reshape the academic year, Science Guide reports (in Dutch). According to this platform, the University of Groningen (RUG) is one of the universities involved in the pilot. Dean of Education Arnold Bregt says WUR is not amongst the pilot partners.
According to ScienceGuide, RUG has drawn up a number of plans to examine whether an introduction on 1 September 2022 is feasible. An alternative layout of the academic year, with more periods without teaching, is thought to help relieve the teachers’ workload for scientists. It is an idea introduced by De Jonge Akademie. Researcher and lecturer Chiel van Heerwaarden and student Nick Ligthart discussed the matter in Resource, concluding that there are still quite a few snags to overcome.
