The House of Representatives supports the introduction of a lottery for studies at a university or college. If the Senate also agrees, students can be drawn in or out again for a particular study. According to the minister, this will give everyone a fairer chance in higher education.
Lottery was possible in the past, but was abolished in 2017. Since that year, programs can only select students on the basis of talent and motivation, for example by looking at grades and a letter of motivation.
According to Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (Education), selecting students on the basis of performance and motivation creates inequality. According to the minister, students with highly educated parents, for example, often have an advantage when it comes to writing a letter of motivation. That is why he wants to make lottery possible again.
A very large parliamentary majority supports the proposal. Only the Forum for Democracy and Group van Haga did not agree with the bill on Tuesday. There is therefore a good chance that the proposal will also be able to count on a majority in the Senate. It is not yet known when the law will be discussed.
Also ‘mixed form’ possible
So it will probably be possible to draw lots again in a while, but universities of applied sciences and universities can also opt for a so-called mixed form. Promising students can be admitted immediately or less performing students can be immediately rejected.
Dijkgraaf and part of the House feared that it would then become possible to reject students on the basis of their grades, but the minister promised on Monday that this was not the intention.
The minister says that “an important step has been taken towards more equality of opportunity in higher education”. “Talent cannot always be recognized by past performance, such as grades, a high score on a test or a good letter of motivation. The introduction of lottery offers a fair way to allocate the scarce places on study programmes.”
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