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SOME ARE MORE EQUAL...
Dutsch universities can pre-select their students and force them into different study fields — or even kick them out.
Are “all students equal” at the University of Amsterdam?
| Noelle Stommel (AMSTERDAM). By now, almost every university in the Netherlands has begun working with selection methods for highschool graduates. The first attempt dates back to the year 1997, when the compulsory study advice (BSA) was introduced.
This year’s experiment to select at the gate failed. Obviously, good grades in highschool are not a trustworthy indicator of existing talent anymore. Therefore, universities are trying to find young talents themselves more actively. The so called “pre-university colleges” select scholars before they even set foot on university ground. The trend is highly visible: already three years ago Prime Minister Balkenende said “equal thinking” should be “shaken up”.
As a result there are universities like the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and the Universiteit Leiden, which offer “honour programmes”, “master classes” and “plus programmes” to favoured students. The compulsory study advice, to try and achieve at leasttwo thirds of the study points during the first year has vanished from many universities. Even the Universiteit van Amsterdam, always known for following the democratic principle of “all students are equal”, is relying on criteria such as personal talent and ambition. Nowadays, everything is about differentiation and fostering “excellence”. Good for the rich, destructive to the career of “weaker” students. The universities even have the right to force a student into a different study field. The chairman of the University Union (VNSU) Ed d’Hondt even demands the right to completely remove students from campus. To let the strongest win the race is more important than supporting the weak — an equation that will pay back sooner or later. But at what cost?