Students ‘drown in loneliness’ – Call to open universities

The Netherlands government needs to do more for higher education students, student union LSVb said in a plea to open colleges and universities. “Students from colleges and universities fall by the wayside, but the cabinet doesn’t care about it,” LSVb Vice President Freya Chiappino said in a press release, reports NL Times.

Primary schools and daycare facilities were allowed to reopen two weeks ago. Leaked reports state that secondary schools and vocational schools will soon be allowed to reopen, to a limited extent at least. But higher education remains closed.

“The colleges and universities remain closed without any prospects. Students are expected to get by, but they’re stretched thin. They are sucked into their laptops and drown in loneliness. Students must no longer be the victims of this crisis. Higher education urgently needs perspective,” Chiappino said. According to the LSVb, no coronavirus infection clusters were traced back to higher education when it had more space last year. “Students have proven through various initiatives that they can deal with the measures in a responsible manner. Therefore, give them the breathing space they need. Safety comes first in all cases,” Chiappino said.
Full report on the NL Times site

Meanwhile, DutchNews.nl reports that the majority of foreign students who have come to the Netherlands to study have been struggling emotionally because of coronavirus measures, a survey by Dutch international education bureau Nuffic has shown. Over half experienced anxiety, loneliness and boredom during the first half of the academic year when most universities and colleges were closed, while four in 10 experienced feelings of depression. Students from outside the European Union were more likely to struggle emotionally than EU students. “International students are being hard hit by the coronavirus crisis,” Nuffic Director Freddy Weima said.
Full report on the Dutch News site