Much of the €2.5 billion from Project Beethoven is earmarked for education in the region. In particular for training technical talent. Although the final plans will not be known until 1 July, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Fontys University of Applied Sciences and Summa College are already sharing their preparations and ambitions with Studio040.
€450 million will be invested in education on a one-off basis until 2030. This is in the agreement of Project Beethoven, in which The Hague, province, municipalities, and businesses set aside billions to make the Brainport region grow and keep it liveable. There is also an annual contribution of €80 million from the central government to train technical talent.
Cooperation
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is working on “detailed plans” for Project Beethoven. “We are busy shaping our contribution, together with other educational institutions and Brainport,” a TU/e spokesperson responded when asked. Part of the millions will also flow through to the universities in Delft, Twente, and Groningen.
More students
Fontys Universities of Applied Sciences is developing plans to further innovate education and attract more students to technical programmes. “The ambition is to get more students into programmes that train for the semicon industry,” a spokesperson says. There is also an emphasis at Fontys on reducing student dropouts. “In the future, we want to offer more practice-oriented and flexible education in an adapted learning environment. This should also be closely linked to research,” the spokesperson said.
Big plans at the higher education institution while they may have to reorganise. The training institute is facing declining student numbers, which does not rule out the need to cut staff in the future.
Training
At Summa College, they can already comment more concretely on what Project Beethoven means for regional mbo education. “We aim to train more than 10,000 new Mbo students in the next five to six years,” says director Laurent de Vries. Summa College will do this in cooperation with other Mbo institutions in the province. “We are working intensively together inside and outside the institution to achieve this,” said the outgoing De Vries.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Chaitali Sengupta. She also gives online INBURGERING classes.
