Toespraak van minister Bussemaker bij de conferentie 'The future of higher education'

Toespraak | 14-03-2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we’re talking about the huge challenges facing higher education in Europe. Our aim is to share best practices. And to make recommendations to help shape the European agenda for the higher education of the future.

I would like to focus briefly upon each of the three themes we’re discussing here today:

• linking higher education to the outside world;
• preparing engaged citizens and social inclusion; 
• and the potential of digital technologies.    

But first, let me begin with a story from here in the Netherlands.

Last Saturday, I presented the award for the Dutch Higher Education Lecturer of the Year. The result of a vote organised by students, who could nominate their own favourite lecturer. I also presented the winner with the first ever Comenius Grant.

The Comenius Grants Programme is the product of a suggestion first put forward by Dutch lecturers themselves. They asked us for support in putting good, innovative ideas into practice, so that they themselves could improve and revitalise higher education.
In the spirit of the Czech philosopher Comenius, who lived part of his life here in Amsterdam, we decided to take up that idea and run with it.

In his own day, the 17th century, Comenius was a true educational innovator. He wanted to unite disciplines and to show his students how different things related to each other. He believed in education for all – girls as well as boys, from all social classes. And in lifelong learning.

That same period saw the advent of the so-called Athenaeum Illustre in the Dutch Republic. This was a local institute of higher education, offering a basic academic training with an emphasis upon providing its students with a broad spectrum of knowledge – what we would now call 'Bildung'. Any city could set up such a school. It allowed students to learn close to home, and the curriculum could be adapted to local needs.

The seventeenth century was also a time when Europe, even though it didn’t yet really exist in its current form, was exploring and pushing back boundaries. Both literally and figuratively. A time of great academic and cultural flowering, and of booming international trade. But also one of social unrest and conflict over national and regional borders.

I see 2 similarities between our age and that of Comenius.

First, there’s the formative role of universities and other institutes of higher education. That’s become a hot topic once again. Studying in the twenty-first century is not just a matter of acquiring academic knowledge, it’s about developing practical skills and becoming a well-rounded human being. And about understanding and engaging with themes which matter to society.

That’s why, for me as the Dutch minister responsible, good education and intensive contact between lecturers and students are absolute priorities.

Secondly, borders. They're back as a topical theme in today's Europe, too. Literally, now that so many countries are wrestling with the flow of refugees and migrants. But figuratively as well, as our moral boundaries are being tested. Events like the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, and their aftermath, are forcing us to stand up as never before for the values underlying the free and democratic Europe we've built up over many years. Values like peace. Freedom. Democracy. And equality.

Ladies and gentlemen, it was Comenius who said: 'All of us are standing on the single stage of the huge world and everything that is done relates to everybody.' In my view, that’s exactly what this conference is all about. About how we as individual countries, and as Europe, both reflect and anticipate the great upheavals affecting our society through our higher education policy. After all, it’s higher education which trains the leaders of the future. Leaders not in the sense of rulers, but as the upholders of our moral values.

In just a few years' time, the students of today will be helping to shape our nations and to shape Europe. Through work, innovation and research. But also by setting the tone in how we treat one another and what we consider important.

Good higher education should prepare them for that task. Which brings me back to our 3 themes here today. Let me start with linking higher education to the outside world.

We can’t predict what the world will look like in 20 years’ time. Or even ten. What we do know is that technology and socio-economic innovation will cause some jobs to disappear. But new ones will also be created; ones we can’t even imagine today. And change others beyond all recognition as they demand totally new skills.

By the time they enter the workplace, today’s students will face new dilemmas and social problems. As I said earlier, in that environment knowledge alone is not enough.

You also need to be able to assess unknown situations, and have the courage to act independently. To be creative and ask critical questions. And to think beyond the boundaries of your own discipline.

Take a nurse, for instance. 30 years ago, most of her duties were routine tasks. But today she, too, has to deal with the advances in technology and ethical dilemmas posed by technological advances.

The higher education of the 21st century has to convey more than just theoretical knowledge. It needs to draw students out of their comfort zone. To provide them with direct experience of real-life problems.

One good example, I think, is the Mentors of Rotterdam project. By serving as peer coaches or mentors for schoolchildren in need of extra help with their work, students from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences learn practical coaching skills and experience the dynamic urban life of South Rotterdam – not the easiest part of the city to live and work in. Where possible, they also draw on their own skills to provide their young charges with the best possible help.

This project not only demonstrates how the community can provide students with a rich learning environment. It also shows what universities and other institutes of higher education are able to give back their knowledge and their manpower to that community. That creates a dynamic which generates economic activity, jobs and start-ups. And so makes for an interesting example at the regional, national and European levels.

This brings me to our second theme: preparing engaged citizens and social inclusion.

A university is more than just a knowledge factory. It’s also a community. A place where you learn to form your own opinions, and to appreciate other people’s perspectives, ideas and feelings.

Like, for example, the trainee doctor encountering her patients' very different attitudes towards disease and health for the first time. And having to learn to deal with them all in a respectful way.

Or the economics student on a placement at a bank, where he finds himself expected to weigh economic interests against human factors in a responsible manner.

And what about the trainee teacher who has to learn how to respond to pupils with radical ideas? In this particular case, I’m very pleased that Dutch teacher training courses have started paying more attention to 'Bildung' in recent years, as that’s become an essential aspect of the teacher’s job.

Not without reason, equipping our citizens to cope with a rapidly changing world has been made a key priority of the current Dutch presidency of the EU. And that’s not simply about making sure that future generations keep our society and economy functioning.

It’s also about ensuring that young people themselves function as effectively as possible in that society and in Europe. About giving every student the chance to thrive, and to show what they have to offer. Especially those whose background has not previously given them the opportunity to display their full talent and potential.

In short, equipping students for life and work in the 21st century requires intensive higher education, close contacts with lecturers and plenty of room for discussion and personal feedback.
It also requires personalisation, in a way that does full justice to the individual student's background, talents and style of learning. I think that’s going to demand adaptation on the part of every higher education institution in Europe. So let’s make the most of the opportunity we have here to share best practices.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I believe that future technological and socio-economic progress is only going to further underline the importance of shaping our own human-ness. Because what sets us apart from technology, robots and computers is the fact that we can learn to connect with our personalities and our development as people. The higher education of the twenty-first century needs to really bear that in mind. By linking education to the outside world and by preparing engaged citizens.

Not that I see technology as a threat to education or jobs. Quite the contrary, in fact. I believe that higher education should take full advantage of all the technological opportunities at its disposal. And so I come to our third and final theme: the potential of digital technologies.

More and more institutions are developing forms of blended and online education. And that’s fantastic, because it gives students the chance to look beyond the frontiers of their own disciplines and their own countries. Online education has the potential to broaden, deepen and inspire dialogues, both amongst students and with tutors.

Lecturer Edwin Bakker will be telling you later today about how his MOOC on terrorism, which was followed by thousands of students all over the world, has completely changed the way he teaches.
A number of European institutions are now launching initiatives for the mutual recognition of their online courses. Also later today, Anka Mulder of our very own Delft University of Technology will explain how her alliance is taking shape.

The Netherlands wholeheartedly supports these developments. And I hope that we can now take them forward on the European stage.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, I realise that lifting European higher education to the next level is going to require huge investments by us all. Here in the Netherlands, we’re making those investments with money released by reform of the student financing system. Other countries are making their own choices, of course.

So during this conference, let’s also talk about the choices we make as nations and the dilemmas they present us with. Let’s learn from one another. And think about how the value added by our partnership can make a difference for students and for lecturers. Because, ultimately, it’s all about them.

I'd like to end as I began: with a quote from Comenius. He also said: 'We Europeans are all sailing on one ship.'

Let’s make the most of this conference to share experiences and to formulate concrete recommendations for the future of European higher education. Not least in the context of the European Skills Agenda. As the current chair of the EU Council of Education Ministers, I shall take those recommendations to our next meeting on the 30th of May.

I wish you an inspiring day!