Toespraak op de jaarlijkse conferentie van de Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) (Engelstalig)

Toespraak | 11-06-2013

ACA Annual Conference on the theme of Internationalization and Mobility

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the Nieuwe Kerk.
An appropriate setting.
This church was built in the Golden Age: a period of tremendous growth in which the Netherlands flourished as never before.
It was the time of painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer, philosophers such as Spinoza and Descartes, and scientists such as Stevin and Huygens.

The Golden Age also marked the start of our international ambitions in higher education.
It was in this spirit that Leiden University – the first Dutch university – invited the French scientist Scaliger to teach in the Netherlands. He was a celebrated scholar and the university had to negotiate for two years to secure his appointment.

But it was worth it: his presence attracted a host of new students to Leiden. From the Netherlands, but also from abroad.

Encouraged by the favorable economic climate and general mood of tolerance, many of these foreign students opted to stay and pursue their careers here. This allowed our country to continue to benefit from their knowledge.

Today, international talent still enriches our society and our knowledge economy. Last week the Modern Migration Policy Act came into force in the Netherlands. It stipulates that foreign students from outside the EU will be granted a residence permit for the duration of their studies.

This law will help students like Didi from China, who decided to take a Master’s degree in Horticulture here, because of the Netherlands’ reputation in advanced horticultural solutions. She now works for a Dutch company as regional director for the Chinese market.
Or Halleh, an Iranian student who came here to take a Master’s in Computer Science at Delft University of Technology, and who now works for a major IT company.

One aim of this legislation is to make it easier for foreign students to come and study here. Attracting students, teachers and researchers to our country is of great value in this age of globalization.
In terms of academic progress. And in terms of economic development.

Today I would like to focus on both these valuable aspects of internationalization.

First I will look at the academic, educational value of internationalization.

In her book Not for Profit, the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum writes:

“Citizens cannot relate well to the complex world around them by factual knowledge and logic alone.
The third ability of the citizen is what we can call the narrative imagination.
This means the ability to think what it might be like to be in the shoes of a person different from oneself.”

In other words, knowledge and skills alone are not enough if we want to prepare young people adequately for their role in society and for the job market.
They also need to understand the world around them by experiencing it for themselves.
By taking classes on another continent.
Or by exchanging ideas with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds, thereby contributing to the international classroom.
This is an important aspect of a well-rounded academic education.

The world is getting smaller rather than larger. Countries are no longer bound by their national borders. Our society therefore needs people who have not only learned to take a critical look at the world, but who can also put themselves in someone else’s situation.

People with a flexible, creative and open mind.
People who can tackle issues in fields such as innovation and integration.

The job market is also becoming increasingly international.
In Europe we no longer educate people for domestic markets. Our horizons have expanded: we live and work in a global market. Students must therefore be prepared to find their way in that constellation.

International experience is a great way to develop skills such as problem-solving, constructive collaboration and creativity. These are essential skills on the international job market and in flexible and innovative knowledge economies.

Open access plays a major role in this process.
Did you know that MIT’s online course in ‘Circuits and Electronics’ has attracted over 120,000 registrants? This number almost equals the total number of MIT’s living alumni.

This example highlights the tremendous opportunities that exist in open online higher education.
In catering to the growing demand for higher education. But also in boosting quality and improving links with the working world.
The Netherlands is currently developing a long-term strategy on these issues. And I am very curious to hear about your views on such matters.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will now turn to the second aspect of internationalization: its economic value.

Internationalization and mobility fuel a country’s economic growth and its power to innovate. For the Netherlands, this represents a potential of 740 million euros per year.

The crucial question is how we can realize this potential.

In my view, there are three key factors.

The first is attracting and keeping foreign students.
The Netherlands not only wants to attract excellent students from abroad, but also to offer them a career here.

Each year over 56,000 international students find their way to the Netherlands.
Two-thirds say in advance that they want to stay after they graduate.
Yet four out of five return to their homeland after completing their studies.
Disappointing, when we consider the benefits they can bring to sectors such as technology, where there are plenty of vacancies for qualified personnel.

We therefore want to make it more appealing for foreign students to continue working here after they graduate.
We can do so by making their student days enjoyable and by giving them access to traineeships, grants and reliable, relevant information.

In this time of unemployment, we tend to assume that there is a lack of jobs across the spectrum. But international employees are very much in demand in the business world.

Take Dutch micro-electronics specialists ASML for example: two-thirds of its current workforce come from abroad. And it still has another 1200 vacancies to fill in the next few years.

This demonstrates the importance of educating these future employees at universities and colleges which have their own distinctive profiles – this is my second point.

Instead of taking a blanket approach to attracting as many foreign students as possible, institutions should appeal to them by emphasizing quality and focus.
For universities, a specific focus on the BRIC countries might prove worthwhile, considering the golden opportunities for good trade relations and academic cooperation.

This brings me to my third point: cooperation.
If universities excel in specific areas and form partnerships with foreign institutions, they can strengthen their international position tremendously.

The Netherlands has no choice but to reduce the level of international grants in the near future. But we recognize the enormous importance of international cooperation and we therefore plan to increase our focus on encouraging partnerships.

For example, my ministry has recently signed an MoU with the Russian Ministry of Education. This offers great scope for academic cooperation between the Netherlands and Russia. In essence, this MoU means the government is smoothing the path so that universities can find each other. The legislation I mentioned earlier shares the same goal.

The Netherlands is also cooperating actively with Germany. We have established a joint internationalization agenda, we plan to provide scholarships to Dutch students who want to study in Germany and we are working to simplify the accreditation process for joint programs and joint degrees with Germany.

And with Brazil, we have agreed that 2500 students can come and study in the Netherlands with support from Nuffic and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. In two weeks’ time, I will travel to Brazil to discuss opportunities for further cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To capitalize on the academic and economic value of internationalization, our universities and our governments need a clear long-term strategy.
What choices should we make?
Which countries and which groups of students should we focus on?
And what creative forms of cooperation are possible?
Now, as in the Golden Age, internationalization has many exciting opportunities to offer us.

I can speak from my own experience. A few years ago I received a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research to undertake research of my own at Harvard’s Centre for European Studies.

Interacting with the great scientists whose books I had read was a real inspiration. As was exchanging my ideas with fellow researchers from totally different backgrounds. This international exchange led me to see my research, my country and myself in a different light. It was an invaluable experience, one I will always treasure.

You will go on to address all of these topics in your discussions today. I wish you a successful and inspiring exchange of views, and I look forward to hearing all about your conclusions.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to congratulate the ACA on its twentieth anniversary. Twenty – the ideal age for a student!

Thank you very much for you kind attention.