Following the cancellation of the manifestation in Utrecht, today we gathered with many staff members and the Executive Board of VU Amsterdam to make our concerns about cuts to higher education visible.
Jeroen Geurts and Marcel Nollen, speaking on behalf of the Executive Board, addressed the more than 300 colleagues and students present: “These cuts impact the development and well-being of our students, threaten the future of our education and research, and strike at the very heart of our work as a university. They undermine our knowledge economy, jeopardise jobs and internationalisation, and put pressure on the academic values we uphold. As VU Amsterdam, we will continue to speak out strongly, because we believe in the fundamental value of science and education that prepares our students and society to face the great challenges of our time. Reduced investment means less research, fewer opportunities for students, less progress. We cannot and must not ignore this. These cuts must be reversed.”
Board Chair Margrethe Jonkman attended today’s alternative education protest, organised from the Dutch House of Representatives, to listen to the speeches, make the voice of VU Amsterdam heard, and show our opposition to the proposed cuts.
The Algemene Onderwijsbond, one of the organisers of the cancelled protest on 14 November, has now set a new date for a demonstration in The Hague: Monday 25 November. This protest will take place ahead of the discussion on the education budget. As soon as more details are available, we will of course share them.