More money for free Dutch language courses
The university has increased this year’s budget for Dutch language courses at the Language Centre to 725,000 euros. That means 2,850 international students, PhDs and postdocs will be able to learn Dutch for free up to level B1.
The UG’s contribution is up almost 125,000 euros from last year. An additional 50,000 euros has been allocated for the transition to online education.
Even though all language classes went online due to the coronavirus regulations, there was ‘a great interest in the Dutch language courses’, the board of directors said in the institutional budget for 2021. The Language Centre will be able to teach 217 extra students Dutch this year, up from 2,633 in 2020.
‘It’s very nice that people are interested in learning the language’, says Berna de Boer, head of the Dutch section of the Language Centre. ‘Sometimes we hear from students that they couldn’t find a slot, so now I hope as many students as possible can take the course.’