The main point of discussion during last Friday’s Onderwijscafé, organized by the Dutch National Student Union (LSVb) and political party VVD, was pre-enrolment selection for studies with fixed quota. The majority was strongly opposed to this idea, but according to VVD senator and full professor Jan Anthonie Bruijn there are indications that pre-selection increases the chance of a successful study. He believes that it is a matter of social responsibility to try and keep students from making the wrong choice of study. There is scientific evidence that pre-enrolment selection does indeed help, Bruijn argued.

There was little sympathy for his position. According to Jasper van Dijk, parliamentarian for the Dutch Socialist Party (SP), selection already takes place during secondary education and he did not wish to “add any forced selection at the gate.” It will only lead to arbitrariness, he said.

He received support from Paul van Meenen, parliamentarian for social-liberal party D66, who argued that is very difficult to get a clear picture of someone’s abilities. Candidates often pay study preparation companies thousands of euros to help them pass the selection procedure of the study of their dreams. “Selection should take place once students have started their studies, so that they have a chance to learn something.”

Disaster

Bruijn said he wasn’t admitted to the conservatory when he was younger because he was only a fairly good pianist. “Why would an average pianist like yourself not be allowed to study there,” someone in the audience asked. Dropping out of university is a disaster that costs society seven billion euros each year, said Bruijn. The student enters the job market at a later stage and builds up less pension.

The liberal senator insisted that helping students make the right study choice is a social obligation. There is nothing wrong with help, the students said, but why can’t it be in the form of advice instead of selection? Their position was clear: let us make our own choice, let us discover for ourselves how a study works out and allow us to make our own mistakes.

Solution

“Pre-enrolment selection is presented as the solution in this debate, but its good intentions can lead to other solutions as well,” said this year’s winner of the LSVb Thesis award Toske Andreoli. She studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Groningen and recently graduated with a Master’s thesis on the relation between student and educational institution. She believes more attention should be paid to psychological stress among students.

LSVb chairwoman Carline van Breugel used Andreoli’s thesis to question minister of education Ingrid van Engelshoven on the binding study advice (BSA). It supposedly leads to stress and achievement pressure. There’s nothing wrong with pressuring students to work hard, but good guidance is paramount, the minster said. “BSA must not function as a selection mechanism in disguise. I believe more students can be successful if they are allowed more time. Why wouldn’t society grant them that?”