A small country like the Netherlands should cherish the power of international knowledge exchange with all its might. Students from the global South offer us a different perspective.
Cutting back on international knowledge exchange destroys what the Netherlands is good at. For a small country, the Netherlands has always played an impressive international role. Not only in international trade, but also – and related to that – in science. The world would have looked different without Hugo de Groot’s maritime law and Erasmus’ humanism.
The discussion about international students often focuses on student rooms and the question of how much students contribute to the economy after their studies here. In doing so, we forget that the students who return to their own country are our best ambassadors and bridgeheads for cooperation, trade and diplomacy. In a time of increased international tensions, this is of great importance to the Netherlands.
Special educational institutes
After the Second World War, the Netherlands invested heavily in students from the global South. Special educational institutes were established for subjects such as water management, business administration, medical care, geotechnics and development economics. Strong scholarship programmes enabled students from Africa, Asia and Latin America in particular to study here. Countless professionals in the South were trained with short and long training courses.
During their studies in the Netherlands, these students give us something particularly valuable. They embody the international relations that we all have to deal with. They encourage fellow students and teachers to think about new perspectives. And through their research in the South, the knowledge institutes bring relevant knowledge to our own country.
Bangladesh and the Netherlands are both deltas with flood risks. Nairobi and Rotterdam are rapidly growing cities, with all the challenges that entails. International knowledge exchange is crucial to guide the Netherlands through the challenges of the 21st century.
Connected to the Netherlands
Even after many decades, the tens of thousands of graduates feel connected to the Netherlands and are happy to work in long-term partnerships with Dutch companies and institutions. These organisations find well-trained partners in all these countries who have also become familiar with Dutch culture and society. This is an investment that continues to bear fruit today.
That is why our business community says about the proposed cutbacks: ‘A trade agenda that does not take into account the needs of partner countries will be less effective.’ This is a hard blow. A Dutch sewer management company, with the help of an alumnus of a Dutch knowledge institution, has made an important contribution to the plans of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) for improving water and sanitation facilities in Dutch asylum reception centres, based on experiences in the global South.
We also see gains in the medical sector through the use of perspectives from other countries; cheaper and circular design of medical instruments will also ensure lower costs and less waste in the Netherlands.
Reducing the flow
Unfortunately, international knowledge exchange is now at a standstill. Last year, the Orange Knowledge Programme, which brought many students from the global South to study here, was discontinued. The budget for important follow-up to this programme has not yet been determined by the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid.
The government wants to drastically reduce the entire inflow of international students. And cuts are being made to international educational institutions. In addition to the broader cuts to higher education, this is a further devastation that will undoubtedly damage the international knowledge position of the Netherlands.
High return
The Netherlands is dismantling what it is so good at. Our international reputation, our network, the infrastructure of our higher education. It is short-sighted to only look at the local problems of the moment. Investing in international knowledge exchange offers the Netherlands a great return economically, politically and culturally. Cabinet, do not dismantle what yields so much. A small country in particular should cherish this international strength with all its might.
27 November 2024
Authors: Ruard Ganzevoort & Claire Hallewas
Source: Volkskrant
About the authors
Ruard Ganzevoort is rector of the International Institute of Social Studies (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and chair of SAIL. Claire Hallewas is managing director of TU Delft | Global Initiative and chair of Platform International Education (PIE).