Almost all Ukrainian children who fled to the Netherlands because of the Russian invasion attend school here. But as soon as they want to study, they face a challenge: it is unaffordable for these young people to start at a Dutch college or university.
There are approximately 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands. Of Ukrainian children in the Netherlands under the age of 17, 92 percent are in education. More than 5,000 refugees are 17 to 23 years old. Only one in five of this group is still in education, according to new figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
According to Statistics Netherlands, the sharp decline in educational participation may be related to the temporary nature of the stay of Ukrainian young people in the Netherlands. The Foundation for Refugee Students UAF sees another important reason. Conversations they have with refugees from Ukraine show that money is the main obstacle.
Ukrainians who fled to the Netherlands during the Russian invasion of Ukraine fall under the so-called Temporary Protection Directive. This scheme includes all kinds of things that allow Ukrainians to live and work in the Netherlands. However, access to further education is not regulated here.
For example, Ukrainians are not entitled to student finance. Tuition fees, among other things, are therefore a financial obstacle for many Ukrainian young people.
Tuition fees for Ukrainian students
In the Netherlands we have two types of tuition fees: the statutory tuition fee and the institutional tuition fee. The statutory tuition fee is the amount that Dutch students also pay and amounts to around 2200 euros. The institutional tuition fee is usually between 8,000 and 15,000 euros, which is a lot higher. This is the tuition fee that Ukrainian students have to pay if they want to study here.
According to Ukrainian students, this amount is higher than tuition fees in other European countries. Some therefore choose not to study in the Netherlands. But if you are already here and have completed high school, you are faced with a challenge.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, many Ukrainian refugee students were subject to the lower statutory tuition fees. Colleges and universities reduced tuition to accommodate students. But as of last year, this is no longer the case for most.
Pay out of your own pocket
Universities and colleges have to pay for this reduction out of their own pockets, and the bill for this will be too high for them. The government does not want to have any say in this and says that educational institutions are authorized to reduce tuition fees themselves. Only students who had already started studying earlier are still entitled to the lower rate.
Some universities and colleges decided last academic year to still charge reduced tuition fees, sometimes only if students meet additional requirements. It is not yet known for the coming academic year whether and which educational institutions will again apply a reduction in tuition fees.
19-year-old Sasha Zamudriakova comes from Kyiv and has been studying at the Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences since last year. “I think it is unfair that Ukrainian students now have to pay so much. The war is not over yet, I think that Ukrainian young people who now want to start studying are just as entitled to the lower tuition fees as I was a year and a half ago.”
Sasha thinks that most young Ukrainians in the Netherlands choose to work instead of studying. “It is impossible for young Ukrainians to pay tuition without a full-time job. But if you work full-time, you don’t have time to study. Many Ukrainian young people I know therefore start working.”
The UAF Foundation for Refugee Students agrees that studying is financially difficult for these young people. Jasper Vink from UAF says that the foundation receives questions every day from Ukrainian refugee students who want to gain access to further education in the Netherlands. “In 9 out of 10 cases, their question is about the amount of the tuition fee. ‘Even with work, that amount of ten thousand euros cannot be saved together,’ said one of them. The students also say that they do not go to any other organization. can for financial support.”
No public transport card
Ukrainian students are not eligible for student financing and therefore not for a free public transport card. As a result, they are often forced to spend hundreds of euros per month on public transport. “I have to pay 260 euros a month to go to my university,” says Sasha, who travels every day from Boxmeer in Brabant to Arnhem.
In addition, some Ukrainian students in the Netherlands, such as Sasha, are allowed to work a maximum of 16 hours per week. Depending on the status they have here. “With what I earn I can pay the costs of public transport, but I certainly cannot finance my studies with it. And I pay the reduced tuition fee.”
I cannot pay for my studies with what I earn
Ukrainian young people are therefore advocating for student financing, which would remove many financial obstacles. “Student financing also gives us the opportunity to borrow money if we cannot pay the tuition fees,” says Sasha. UAF also calls on the government to apply the statutory tuition fees nationally or to make student financing available.
Tags: Ukrainians Netherlands afford studies Unable save euros RTL News
-
