For two years Denmark has been restricting the influx of foreign students, but is now pulling back from that position. Highly educated internationals are proving indispensable on the tight labour market.
In 2021, the Danish government decided to drastically reduce the number of English-taught study programmes in higher education. This was supposed to save costs and keep the education accessible to Danish students.
But this week Denmark made a U-turn. Education Minister Christina Egelund called for the policy to be reversed after employers had complained about the mounting shortage of highly educated manpower, according to platform The Pie News.
It was decided earlier this year that the Danish universities would be allowed to offer 1,100 new places in English-taught study programmes, but Egelund now feels that even more are necessary. “We should be grateful when foreign young people want to study in Denmark”, she told the Danish press.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands there is currently a lot of debate about the anglicisation of higher education and the influx of international students. In his recent bill, outgoing Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf offers institutions a number of tools to restrict the influx, while also acknowledging the requirements of the local labour market.
But many people feel the bill does not go far enough. Pieter Omtzigt, who with his new party Nieuw Sociaal Contract is doing well in the election polls, wants to go a lot further. He proposes limiting the Dutch net migration drastically and reducing the number of international students. Dutch must then become the language of instruction at higher education institutions, wherever possible. He also feels that European students should not be able to apply systematically for Dutch student financing.
Other parties, including the ChristenUnie, Forum voor Democratie and PVV, also want to restrict the influx of international students.
Translation: Taalcentrum-VU