In Eindhoven, dozens of students, teachers and educational organisations gathered to protest against the cuts in higher education. The activists marched from the TU/e campus to the city hall to present a petition to the city government.
Teachers, employees, the FNV union, the General Education Union (AOb) and students stood on the square. “I think it is very nice to see that there are many people from different backgrounds here. It makes me happy to see that it is happening at all levels of the university,” says Lieke van der Zee, student at the Technical University and co-organiser of the protest.
Work pressure
The cabinet announced last year that around a billion euros would be cut from education. The Senate has now approved a large part of the cuts. That is why there are protests again. “At a lot of universities and colleges, temporary contracts have been stopped. You have to do the same work with fewer people and that creates more work pressure and less attention for students,” says Coba van der Veer, representative of higher professional education within the AOb.
This is a relay protest. Protests have already been held in other university cities. Eindhoven is the second-to-last. 1,468 people have signed a petition that has been presented to the city council, with the aim of having them speak out against the budget cuts of the national government
“You see in other student cities that working groups have been abolished and that there is simply no more research into certain things,” says Van der Zee. “Some studies can no longer be followed in English and studies are even being cancelled. These are all things that happen in other cities but that we in Eindhoven will eventually have to deal with as well.”
Beethoven
The Brainport region wants to invest in education to train people for the technical sector. This is necessary to facilitate the growth of ASML. “People need to be trained to be able to work in the high-tech sector, so in Eindhoven it is very clear how much impact the cutbacks have on this region,” says Van der Veer.
The petition was therefore gladly accepted by alderman Stijn Steenbakkers (education) at the end of the protest march. “Education is of course the cornerstone of the Brainport region. Fundamental in the further development of our beautiful city and region,” he says. Despite what has been invested in education with the Beethoven deal, he acknowledges that the cutbacks are hitting teachers and students hard. “The fact that you are taking to the streets for this is not only very good for this group, but also for the region and for the city. So I accept it with love.”
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
