MBOs, colleges and universities are given an extra year to spend aid funds due to corona on the well-being of students. That is what Education Minister Dijkgraaf wrote to the House of Representatives this afternoon.
With the National Education Program presented last year, the cabinet wants to absorb the consequences of the corona pandemic and work on recovery. At that time, 2.7 billion euros was made available for MBO and higher education to, among other things, make up for study delay and improve the mental health of students.
It now appears that many students still struggle with study delay or struggle with their mental health. Dijkgraaf: ,,During conversations with students and visits to educational institutions, I was impressed by the flexibility and resilience that students, teachers and scientists show to cope with the consequences of the corona pandemic. I greatly appreciate that. However, I also see that the pandemic has undeniably weighed heavily on them.”
Last summer, the institutions made recovery plans, but it has not been easy to implement all those plans. The new lockdown in December and January in particular forced them to hold back. The minister therefore wants to give MBOs, colleges and universities more time to enable recovery after corona in MBO and higher education. The funds can now be spent until the end of 2023, with 2024 as the ‘run-out year’.
Third still study delay
In a recent poll among more than 30,000 students, two thirds of them indicate that they do not have a study delay despite corona, but one third does. For almost half of that group of students, the delay is four months or longer. The student poll also shows that corona has left significant marks on the mental well-being of students: a quarter indicate that their mental health is bad to very bad.
There is also good news: the internship shortage, which caused a significant group of students to fall behind in their studies during the pandemic, has now declined rapidly. It is especially important in healthcare. Furthermore, the labor market position for recent graduates is currently favourable.
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