European University Business Forum

Toespraak | 21-11-2011

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear mister Peter Baur, thank you very much for your warm opening speech,
Dear mayor Den Oudsten,
And dear Mister Flierman, thank you very much for the invitation to speak here today, during the European University Business forum.
It is an honour and a pleasure to be here.

Forty years ago, a highly influential study was published in the Netherlands. Its title translates into English as “The hidden talent”. The study was carried out by sociologist Frederik van Heek, son of a prominent family of entrepreneurs, especially famous in this area. Van Heek wondered why far more boys from wealthy backgrounds had access to higher education than boys from the lower social classes.

His research revealed that, in those days, class background was a determining factor in being able to develop your talents to the full. The researchers not only viewed this as unjust, but also as economically unwise. In their view, it made no sense to leave such a large pool of potential talent untapped.

This study contributed towards the emancipation of higher education in the Netherlands. And with success. At the time of the study, less than ten per cent of the population went on to study at university and other institutions of higher education. Today, just under half of the Dutch population study at this level. The hidden talent emerged and blossomed, with positive effects on our economic performance and on society in a broader sense.

The awareness that making the best possible use of human talent has a direct effect on economic achievement and social wellbeing, is now more influential than ever. Indeed, it is what brings us all here today. Because of that, Europe attaches great importance to forging effective links between our educational institutions and the business world. And that’s exactly what you’re doing in this forum, today.

Today and tomorrow, administrators, teaching professionals and CEOs from the world of business will be sharing their knowledge and seeking new ways to make the most of this cooperation.
The University of Twente is your host today, and with good reason. This university of technology was founded fifty years ago to create a new innovative industry in the science and technology sector, following the demise of the region’s textile industry. Since then, the university has been instrumental in creating 7,000 new jobs and 700 new businesses. It is also involved in public-private partnerships with major companies such as Boeing, Google and IBM, as well as companies from the region. The spirit of enterprise is part of your DNA.

The government of the Netherlands is also fully aware of this mutual relationship. Developments here in Twente reflect our national commitment to a number of leading economic sectors, with the aim of making our country more competitive, innovative and enterprising. And in this process too, education and not just business has an important role to play.

For instance, we are currently working on human-capital agendas, which will help us to catalogue the wishes and expectations of employers with regard to the young people graduating from vocational education, from higher professional education and from our universities. The educational institutions are closely involved in this process and will in turn incorporate the human-capital agenda in their strategic programmes.

This brings me back to the study on hidden talent I mentioned earlier. Nowadays, improving talent development through education makes different demands on the sector than it did fifty years ago. In the old days, talent went to waste because too few young people were given access to higher education. Now, however, we can see talent going to waste among the highest achieving students in all areas of education. This has been demonstrated by a range of international studies. Another important issue is that, for all kinds of reasons, too few young people opt to study technical subjects. This too has a negative impact on our economy and our society.

We also have to find out why programmes of excellence at our universities are still attracting so few students. Is it because they are not sufficiently interested in making the most of their potential? Or is it because young people do not realize that this opportunity is open to them? Are our students given enough challenges at primary school and secondary school? Has the vast influx of students into higher education given rise to a culture in which a bare pass is good enough?

Such questions have led the Dutch government to launch action plans aimed at encouraging better performance in all sectors of education. In doing so, we are working towards an educational culture that is ambitious and has high expectations of the participants.
Education that is more stimulating and challenging to young people and that brings out the best in them.

This brings me to the news which I have the privilege of sharing with you for the very first time today.
The municipal authorities from this region have joined forces with institutions from primary, secondary and vocational education to facilitate an academic chair. This chair will be focused on structural research into how best to develop talent, not least exceptional talent.
The results of the range of research to be carried out will be converted directly into practical measures for use in our schools and classrooms. This practical application is something I believe is very important.

For primary and secondary education in particular, the new academic chair will provide plenty of much needed support. Not only at our universities but also in our primary and secondary schools, a great deal of hard work is being invested in developing talent, as attested by projects such as Leonardo schools and plus classes for gifted children. But a clear overview of what works and what doesn't is still sadly lacking.

Two lines of research will be pursued within the context of the chair. Young people will be studied along their educational route, whether they go from primary school to the secondary vocational education and move on to vocational education, or from primary school to the secondary education and on to higher education. This fits in well with the current government’s new approach, in which pupils’ progress is tracked throughout the full educational cycle. This provides structure, and it enables us to work purposefully towards a customized approach at every level.

This chair will also undertake research on the attitudes to science and technical subjects among pupils and teachers. This too will be extremely valuable. We have a real lack of people studying technical subjects, not only at the highest level but also in vocational programmes. We need to turn the tide, and in order to do so, we have to start at the point where people are thinking for the first time about which career to choose.

I would also like to take this opportunity to praise the way in which this chair came about. Primary, secondary and vocational schools joined with municipal authorities and companies and took a stand to bring this academic endeavour to life. In other words, you yourselves took on the responsibility for contributing to the quality of education here in the Netherlands. This is nothing short of enterprise in action!

All of which brings me back to this two-day symposium.
Today and tomorrow, you will experience the European University Business Thematic Forum together. The university is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Allow me to congratulate you all, and to encourage you to keep up the good work: it is work that goes to the very heart of society. I wish you all a fulfilling and fruitful couple of days. By way of inspiration, I will leave you with a quote from Goethe: “A really great talent finds its happiness in realisation.”