Toespraak van van minister Bussemaker op University of Ottawa

Toespraak | 27-05-2015

Ladies and gentlemen,

This Dutch delegation's visit to Canada is devoted both to the future of education and to our shared past, so I would like to start by sharing a poem with you.

It is called: 'If you don’t watch out'. The Dutch poet Remco Campert recited it years ago on May 4th, the evening on which we in the Netherlands commemorate the soldiers and civilians who died during World War Two and in later conflicts.

You may not play this music
I wouldn’t read that book if I were you
You ought to tear up that photograph

Avoid being seen with him
because you might get into trouble
I would keep my mouth shut

soon you may only
hidden in a dark room
yearn for the light of freedom

that you relinquished
by looking the other way
when your neighbors were taken away.

Our freedom came with a price.
Your fathers and grandfathers paid part of this price.
They did not look the other way.
No, they looked towards us – on the other side of the Atlantic.

They liberated the Netherlands from Nazi occupation and helped to rebuild our country.

Our Royal Family found a safe haven in Canada during the war years.

After the war, thousands of Dutch people immigrated here. As the Minister of Public Health in twenty-ten, I was present at an impressive gathering of Canadians and Dutch immigrants who had found a new life here in Canada after the war. What really struck me is the close relationship between our countries that the people there radiated with their hearts and minds.

And perhaps we would not be your guests here today, had it not been for the courage of your fathers and grandfathers. We are eternally grateful to them for their sacrifice. For freedom is the primary condition for development. For people as individuals. For a society. And for good education.

After all, freedom and education are both based on the realization that the world extends far beyond your own field of vision. They are based on the power of imagination. And on sincere inquisitiveness about the world around us.

Now, in the twenty-first century, we must again learn to look beyond the limits of our field of vision. Our society is facing complex problems that have multiple causes, which is why the solutions will have to come from multiple angles.

Problems in the areas of health, the economy, sustainability and education require unexpected and creative combinations of sectors, fields and educational programs.

This is why it is so important, perhaps now more than ever, that young people do not feel confined by limits and borders while studying. Neither by the borders of their country and culture, nor by the limits of their knowledge and their own unique perspective on the world.

I feel that the system of higher education of the future should offer young people from different countries and fields a place for encounters and constructive collaboration. A place where young minds can grow and individual talent can develop.
And where scientific excellence goes hand in hand with societal significance.

I also feel that the system of higher education of the future should focus on teaching people to think in broad terms. On developing ethical awareness, on taking personal responsibility for your work and results. As part of a process of life-long learning.

This requires scope for creativity, entrepreneurship and for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking and working. Internationalization can provide a real boost to these aspects. Moreover, internationalization encourages creativity – an important condition for arriving at these new combinations.

Professor William Maddux of the international business school INSEAD, an expert in the field of internationalization in education, has conducted research into this phenomenon.

He says: 'People who have international experience are better problem solvers and display more creativity. What’s more, we found that people with this international experience are more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted.'

Researchers at the University of Florida had similar findings. They compared three groups of students. One group had studied abroad, the other group was planning to go abroad and the third group intended to stay in their own country. The researchers gave the three groups some creative assignments. The solutions by the students who had studied abroad were by far the most creative and the most highly developed.

These days, it’s possible to study abroad by taking MOOCs and online courses from the comfort of your own living room. Medical students can take courses on philosophy from Harvard. And chemists can take courses on art history from a university in Singapore. It’s fantastic that these opportunities are available.

Still, there’s real added value to be had in true immersion in the language and culture of another country, in learning and conducting research in an unfamiliar academic community.

I am able to speak from my own experience. Years ago I was a researcher at the Center for European Studies at Harvard. I met academics like the historian Daniel Goldhagen, who had just completed a revolutionary research project on the role of average Germans in igniting World War Two. Samuel Huntington, who wrote The Clash of Civilizations in which he predicted that people’s cultural and religious differences will be the primary source of conflict between nations. And Seyla Benhabib, a Turkish-American philosopher who spoke on bicultural identities.

My encounters with these people were an inspiration to me, and they also led me to see my own research, my country and myself in a different light. It was a life-changing experience that I will cherish forever. An experience that the current generation of students should also benefit from.

Dutch students have traditionally been strongly oriented towards the UK and the USA, meaning they often overlook Canada.
In turn, Canadian students have a strong orientation towards the Anglo-Saxon world of education. They tend to choose the UK, the USA or Australia. Even though the Netherlands has the widest range of English-language degree programmes in Europe, next to the UK.

So there is plenty of fertile ground for cooperation in the fields of both education and research. Especially since our countries complement each other so well in both areas.

For example, our two countries are both powerhouses of quantum research. We are immensely proud of our researcher Leo Kouwenhoven, and I’m terribly excited to meet his Canadian counterpart tomorrow.

We are also similar in our resolution to provide excellent education to all students. Governor General David Johnston put it aptly: 'Equality and excellence don’t have to be mutually exclusive.'

It is precisely because our two countries have such highly developed education and research systems that we can offer each other so much more than just teacher and student exchanges. We can also learn from one other about topics such as research, lifelong learning, excellent teachers and institutional profiles, and how our colleges and universities can set themselves apart from the rest.

I hope that we will inspire one another over the next few days as we think about the future of higher education. Let us see this encounter as a major boost to the very special bond between our countries.

I would like to thank the University of Ottawa for their hospitality, and of course all Canadian participants for joining us here.

I wish you an inspiring meeting!