Tears
In the past year, students have mostly had lessons at home, and they were occasionally allowed to go to campus for lessons. Dramatic for them and for their lecturers, says Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken of Radboud University. He saw that the lack of physical lessons had a big impact. Van Krieken still has the old schedule ready for when the distance rule comes back, but doesn’t really want to use it. “We assume that it should work without that one and a half meters.”
Schedule maker Ingrid Smitjes of the Radboud Faculty of Management Sciences is holding out for next Friday. “Tears would spring to my eyes if the distance rule comes back again. We have moved so many times recently, then it would have to be done again.”
She notices that her colleagues are also having a hard time. “Schedules have been really overworked from all the crowds. Last year my colleagues and I could barely go on holiday. Because of the measures you have to take so many things into account. From anxious teachers to varying travel times, that has to fit into the schedule.”
The VSNU umbrella organization also sees that universities are busy with the planning. “It is normally very difficult to come up with a well-functioning roster. Moreover, our people have been flexible for a year and a half. It is not reasonable for the cabinet to think that we can only change everything at the last minute,” says one spokesman.
puncture boxes
The one and a half meter measure can only be removed if enough people have been vaccinated, the cabinet believes. Of the 18 to 25 year olds, 64 percent had the first shot. More than half, but the percentage is not nearly as high as in older age groups, where often more than 70 to 80 percent of people have had that first shot. Letting go of the distance rule could lead to a new wave of infections, especially because the delta variant of the virus spreads more easily.
Higher education therefore hopes that as many students as possible will be vaccinated to prevent serious illness. Universities and colleges see nothing in a vaccination obligation. “We encourage vaccination, especially for students who are still in doubt. That is why we want to inform them as well as possible, forcing students is not the solution,” says a spokesperson for the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences.
waited long enough
The schools will hear what the cabinet decides on Friday. According to the ministry, the decision will be made “on the basis of the percentage of students vaccinated, the development of the virus and the international epidemiological risks.”
Higher education is clear about it. “There is only one option: it just has to open,” says a spokesperson for the VSNU. The Association of Universities of Applied Sciences points out the patience of this group. “Students have been taking classes from home for a year and a half, they have waited long enough. We belong at the top of the priority list.”
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