The Dutch education council says that government plans to limit the number of foreign students at universities need rethinking, particularly the measures to promote the use of the Dutch language.

More work is needed to justify the planned changes given the major impact they will have on students, higher education, and the Dutch economy, the council said in its review.

The education ministry announced last April that the new legislation would attempt to “better manage and steer” the number of international students in the Netherlands, after concerns across the country that a recent focus on offering English-language education meant students from abroad were squeezing out Dutch talent.

The advisory body said that while it is positive about the plans to limit the number of international students per degree course in line with capacity, the language measures are problematic in terms of supporting evidence, proportionality and the ease of execution.

“What will the impact be on the quality of education and research?” the council said. “And what will be the impact on small institutions, hbo colleges and specialised universities, and those in the border areas?”

The bill has already sparked concern amongst international students and teachers at Dutch universities. There are 122,000 international students currently studying at a Dutch university, three and a half times as many as in the 2005 academic year and around 15% of the student body is not Dutch.

“If the objective is to curb the number of internationals, the language [requirement] is the only way in which you can do it,” Robert-Jan Smits, head of Eindhoven University of Technology, told Dutch News last year.

“But that will have enormous effects. We are located in Eindhoven, the high-tech centre of the Netherlands, a booming economy with companies like Philips Electronics, ASML, NXP, and we already do everything in English.

Plans to introduce a limit on the number of international students on some courses will allow universities to better manage their capacity and may improve access for domestic students, the council said. The universities have been calling for action on student numbers for years.

But the current system of funding encourages universities to stimulate the number of foreign students and this should be tackled at the same time, the council said. 

Education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said in a reaction that he will take the recommendations into account and will revise the legislation as “carefully and quickly” as possible. He has also asked the universities and colleges for their ideas of what else can be done at the moment.

The Council of State will also publish its review of the draft legislation in the coming weeks.