On Wednesday, hundreds of piercing whistles could be heard both in downtown Groningen and at Zernike. Staff and administrators from the University of Groningen (UG) once again protested against the planned budget cuts by the Schoof cabinet in higher education.
‘We’re trying to bring the cabinet back to its senses,’ said Dirk-Jan Scheffers with WOinActie, who led the hundreds of people gathered in the city centre. The crowd assembled at the Harmonie square shortly after noon and marched to the Grote Markt, whistling all the way.
The group stopped in front of the House of Connections, where the board of directors was meeting with faculty administrators as part of a governance day.
Board of directors joins protest
Soon, the entire board of directors came outside and joined the demonstrators, along with a large group of faculty administrators. Meanwhile, approximately a hundred people gathered at Zernike, where whistles echoed across the lawn between the Bernouilliborg, Linneausborg, and Energy Academy buildings.
The protest was organized nationally by WOinActie and co-organised in Groningen by Organize the RUG. Similar whistle protests took place around lunchtime in cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Nijmegen, Enschede, and Maastricht.
Pushing back
With this action, staff and administrators are once again opposing the Schoof cabinet’s plan to cut 1 billion euros from the university budget. The education budget has been under discussion for two weeks. The governing coalition lacks a majority in the Upper House, meaning opposition parties could block the plans if no agreement is reached.
Last week, there appeared to be consensus to spare around 700 million euros of the planned cuts, partly by scrapping penalties for extended study periods. However, a sticking point remains: where will the funds come from?
The coalition argues that the money must be found elsewhere in the education budget, a position the opposition disagrees with. Negotiations continue this Wednesday, with a vote on the budget cuts expected next week.