Growth in internationalization Dutch higher education
25 Sep 2009
Education Minister presents Internationalization Monitor to Dutch Parliament.
The percentage of international students in Dutch government-funded higher education increased slightly in 2008, to about 7.5%. As in previous years Germany, China and Belgium are the three main countries of origin. Dutch students still prefer to go the United Kingdom and Belgium. The number of schools for primary education offering early teaching of foreign languages saw a 70% increase. In secondary education 59.5% of schools have active partners abroad for educational cooperation.
These are the most striking figures from the Internationalization Monitor of Education in the Netherlands 2008, which Dutch Minister for Education Plasterk presented to Parliament on Thursday 3 September. The monitor is drawn up every year by Nuffic (the Netherlands organization for international cooperation in higher education), the European Platform and CINOP (the centre for expertise in the innovation of vocational and adult education).
International students
In 2008, there were an estimated 76,000 international students from at least 59 different countries in the Netherlands. Of these students 51,000 followed a complete study programme, 48,250 of whom in government-funded higher education. Approximately 7,000 students from European countries came to the Netherlands on an Erasmus scholarship or through another EU programme.
More than 2,300 students came on a grant from the Netherlands Fellowship Programme, which falls under Dutch development cooperation. More than 350 students received a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Fifty students were given financial support by the United Nations or other international sponsors.
Dutch students abroad
After a few years of stagnation or decline, the number of Dutch students with an Erasmus scholarship saw an increase to almost 6,000 students in 2008. However, the most recent figures available about the total number of Dutch students abroad are from 2006. At that time 43,750 students undertook a period of study in another country. Of these, 14,150 followed a complete study (only 2,900 of whom went to a country outside Europe). The others stayed abroad for only a short period of study, often at a partner institution of their Dutch institution.
More recent figures do exist for Dutch government-funded students abroad. Since the introduction in 2007 of students grant portability their number increased from 4,000 to 6,500. They studied in a total of 66 different countries.
Primary and secondary education and vocational training and adult education
Higher education is not the only sector that saw an increase. Primary education, secondary education as well as vocational training and adult education all continued to grow in the area of internationalization.
The number of trainees in vocational training who are able to go abroad under the Leonardo da Vinci programme increased by 18%, for the second year in a row.
The number of students in vocational training who went to Turkey for a study or work placement even increased by 272%. But most students still choose the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Belgium or France as their study destination. The Health and Social Care, Welfare and Education Sector (DGO) turned out to be the most internationally-focused. This sector accounted for 63% of the total student mobility in vocational training and is followed by the Economics, Agriculture and Technology sectors.
In primary education the international mobility of teachers saw a 10% increase and the mobility of pupils even grew 25%. The number of secondary schools that offer bilingual education – English and Dutch in nearly all cases – grew to almost one fifth of the total number of secondary schools. However, the mobility of pupils and teachers in secondary education is still low with 2.4% and 1.8% respectively. All in all these figures mean that 10 to 12% of all pupils go abroad once during their school years.