Schools and universities have expressed dissatisfaction over the recent agreement on budget cuts for education, reached between coalition and four opposition parties. The cuts have been reduced to 1.2 billion euros, but the education sector still considers this amount significant.
New strikes are not ruled out. The budget reduction is 748 million euros less than the initial 2 billion euros the government aimed to save from Education, Culture, and Science.
Caspar van den Berg, representing the universities’ umbrella organization, highlighted the negative impact on innovation, critical for areas such as medicine development and housing. The secondary schools share this concern, criticizing the cuts for potentially leading to unhealthy school buildings and expressing relief that teacher salaries are not affected.
Students are relieved the extended study penalty has been removed, a result of protests organized by the National Student Union (LSVb). Both the LSVb and union FNV are considering further actions against the remaining cuts.
Source: NOS