Across the country, the company said it has touched 93 per cent of the total number of applications it used to receive before the pandemic. Also, compared to 2022, VFS Global had last year witnessed an 16 per cent increase in the number of visa applications. Gowani said personalised services such as Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD), which were earlier “preferred by celebrities to avoid crowd”, are being adopted by the general people post-pandemic. . Gowani said that across India, VAYD bookings in 2023 registered around a five-fold increase when compared to 2019.

Dutch universities, new plan, international student enrollment, Studying in Netherlands, holland education,

The Netherlands, sometimes known as Holland, may be shutting doors for international students looking to study in the land of tulips and canals. Back in December 2023, the government took steps to create balance in the internationalization of education. Universities of applied sciences and research universities were asked to submit proposals for self-management and control of international students in Holland.

The primary source of concern was incoming student mobility, which can put a strain on educational quality. Dutch students’ access to particular English-taught educational programs may then be jeopardized, so “concrete measures” to restrict the number of English-taught programs in Dutch higher education were to be explored.

Now, Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) has released a plan outlining an approach for universities to take steps to manage influx of international students. Here is what the action plan states:

With immediate effect, the Dutch universities will be taking measures to manage the influx of international students and improve Dutch language skills. They are committed to reducing the intake of international students, reducing the percentage of English-taught Bachelor’s programs, increasing the number of Dutch-language degree programs and strengthening the Dutch language proficiency of both lecturers and students.

Jouke de Vries, acting president of UNL says, “Internationalisation is essential for the Dutch universities and Dutch society, but it also brings about challenges and tensions. To preserve the added value of internationalization, we want to tackle these challenges in earnest.”

The universities will also be taking steps to curb the influx of international students. They will no longer recruit at international fairs, except for degree programs associated with sectors with large labour market shortages. In addition, the universities have agreed to stop the preparatory year for international prospective students.

Currently, 70% of Bachelor’s programs are taught in Dutch, and 18% of those degree programs also have an English version. The total percentage of English-language Bachelor’s programs is 30%.

The universities will also start offering more Dutch-taught degree programs. They agree that all major Bachelor’s programs will at least be taught in Dutch. Moreover, the universities are currently identifying which English-taught degree programs can be fully converted to Dutch.

The universities have furthermore agreed that no new English-taught Bachelor’s programs will be developed for now. This measure will be evaluated within two years, and will end the moment the new legal Foreign Language Education Test (Toets Anderstalig Onderwijs, TAO) enters into force.

Over the past decade, the number of international students in the Netherlands has increased considerably. The preliminary enrolment figures for 2023-2024 show that of all incoming students in higher education, more than 25% are international students. About 45% of these students come to the Netherlands for a Bachelor’s degree in academic higher education.

 

Leave a Reply