International

Foto: Laauwen Media / Laauwen Media

In Amsterdam, the main admin building of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), known as the Maagdenhuis was occupied for almost two weeks by a group of students and staff demanding cancellation of planned cuts in spending, as well as sweeping reforms.

The sit-in followed the eviction of protestors from another building, the Bungehuis, which housed the Faculty of Humanities, and which had also been occupied for around two weeks. The changes the group, which went under the name ‘New University’, were fighting for included democratic election of the university board; a change to the finance allocation to put the emphasis on input, rather than ‘efficiency’; and fixed contracts instead of flexible staff appointments. The occupation, which had the SP’s full support, ended on Saturday when the building was cleared by riot police, despite the students’ having stated that they would leave on Monday. The media gave a great deal of attention to the damage caused by the occupiers, but had very little to say about how in reality an end can be put to the profit-minded orientation in education. In this ‘Brussels’ plays an important role. After all, the European Commission has done nothing but encourage this kind of thinking in higher education. They recently gave more than €4 million to U-Multirank, a university ranking instrument based on such criteria as cooperation with industry and the number of publications and patents an establishment has clocked up.

Taking action is generally easier on the local level than on the national, let alone the European level, so it was completely logical of the students in Amsterdam to demonstrate against their own university. Nevertheless, it’s important to understand that much of the mess with which students are now confronted on a daily basis flows from the European Union. This is despite the fact that in formal terms the EU has little say in relation to education, with even the Lisbon Treaty recognising that it is principally a national affair. A way has been found, however, to exert influence. In the framework of the Bologna Process – the creation of a European Higher Education Area, launched in 1999 - member states and the Commission have been cooperating in this policy area for years.

The European Union traditionally bases itself on market thinking. No exception is made for higher education: Universities and other higher education institutions must make themselves attractive to students from abroad; they must maintain a positive image; and, probably for the EU most importantly – they must cooperate effectively with industry and commerce. The Bologna Process has contributed to this the idea that general development is less important and that the ‘efficiency’ of a university or college should be measured in terms of its sales and production. Students must be educated in disciplines for which industry and commerce, and above all corporate industry and commerce, have most need. Research moneys must be acquired increasingly from private sources, which is making it now difficult to find researchers who are truly independent researchers. Everyone has by necessity carried out research commissioned by a specific company.

The Brussels money machine has also played a role in this. The Commission recently gave a €4 million grant to U-Multirank. They took this from the pot supposed to finance Erasmus+, the programme of subsidies in the area of education. According to the Commission, what provides the basis of this is ‘the thought that investment in education, training and informal learning is of crucial importance to giving people, irrespective of their age or background, the chance to develop themselves throughout their lives, or for “lifelong learning”’. Fine words, but why then give a subsidy measured in millions to a ranking system in which it is not the students’ general development, but production and competitiveness which take priority?

As long as the students’ protests remain restricted to a few universities there is still, it’s true, hope for better education, but the source of the emphasis on ‘efficiency’ will not have been addressed. This source is located in Brussels. So it would also be very useful were the student protests to spread to many other European cities. Eventually the pressure on the Commission could increase to a point where we can finally renounce the focus on market thinking and universities and colleges can be run independently with students and academics at the helm.