A REPORT ON THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE NETHERLANDS
BY THE NETHERLANDS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF TURKEY
This report is written on the basis of a meeting with the members of the Netherlands Alumni Association of Turkey in Ankara in December 2007. As a result of the round table discussion about the higher education system and experiences in the Netherlands, many thought provoking ideas as well as several descriptions of various problems and solutions have emerged. The aim here was to create a platform for the expressing the problems, finding out solutions, and also making the conditions better off for the incoming fellows and the hosting country. Alumni have willingly assumed responsibility for being a medium about the issue of higher education in the very first place.
Our alumni have the very same positive feeling about pursing a graduate program in the Netherlands: Dutch universities are well above the global average in academic terms. Some problems, however, as they claim repeatedly, cannot be avoided completely and they often come about in the daily course of academic life, diminishing the scholarly quality in the country. Members of the academia as well as the institutions in or related to the academia help the fellows come over the difficulties that such problems imply. Nevertheless, their unfavorable effects linger on. An important issue to be raised in the first place should perhaps be the general condition of the fellows, paying short or long terms visits to the country, in regards to their official status. A high percentage of foreign researchers visiting the Netherlands benefits a non-AIO position although they mostly do the same job as their AIO colleagues but not paid for their services. The difficulty this situation gives rise to is that that they might not benefit from the opportunities of a regular AIO position such as finding a workplace, using office facilities, or municipally and institutionally funded housing alternatives. Several institutions, Erasmus, Leiden etc., do their best to accommodate their non-AIO fellows in the absence of a more institutional solution – such as signing a hospitality agreement that allows both parties to solve the problem in a more civil manner. Most universities, among which Amsterdam University comes in the first place, offer good quality housing facilities to the fellows who can make ample use of office devices (such as computers, photocopy machines, etc.) and provide free access to the state libraries. But still, in the absence of a more institutional regulation, it seems, this will keep diminishing the academic productivity overall.
Writing a PhD thesis has never been a simplistic job, surely. An academic work features the quality of passion which makes it possible for the fellows to pursue a project that usually lasts for years. A thesis is almost never completed within a couple of years and “only a couple of years” is just enough to experience radical shifts in one’s life – new friends, new partners, and a new country. This makes the job have a sociality in the sense that the author of a thesis brings together her / his own social and mental experience in order to give birth to a scholarly product. One of the biggest problems that come out of this situation has to do with the families coming along with the research fellow. Neither the Netherlands nor any other country in Europe or the United States has ever been a place for a researcher to visit for touristic purposes alone. The one traveling abroad for pursuing a long lasting project, such as a PhD, requires the fellow to satisfy the needs that a regular resident usually have: reading newspapers, being knowledgeable about the agenda of the country etc. The Netherlands provides almost all of those but nevertheless gives the impression to her visitors that the country is almost full (or already so) and you must leave sooner or later as your reason to be there is no longer relevant to spend some more time to pursue a different, perhaps a more enjoyable and productive walk of life.
We have the impression that almost all the problems expressed by our colleagues within The Netherlands Alumni Association of Turkey boils down to the problems caused by the Dutch naturalization process. We are aware of the immigration policy of the Dutch government and try to guess the variety of problems that IND has faced over years. We understand and have the intention to contribute to the process positively. We, however, have to express openly that we are not completely satisfied with the efficiency of the efforts that have lead into dramatic consequences for the fellows.
The problem is straightforward: even when the fellows have a letter of invitation and the necessary documents required by the Dutch Embassy in Ankara, it takes weeks, sometimes months, before the visa is given, causing them to miss the beginning period of their course work. This is, pedagogically and psychologically speaking, very counterproductive. The same problem arises when the newcomer fellow applies for the permit to stay in the country (verblijfsvergunning): she / he has to wait for a long period (sometimes more than 6 months) before she / he can obtain the obligatory permit. Moreover, the application fee (more than 600 Euros now) is, strangely, is quite high for the Turkish students, whereas for the students coming from other European countries the same fee is 17 Euros.
The situation is not quite comprehensible. If a fellow is to stay less than a few months, why pay the same fee as those staying for longer? Why pay so much? Even, why pay it at all? The Netherlands is a place where the fellows visit upon an invitation. After all, the fee, to our understanding, should cover the expenses that the newcomer causes with her presence in the country. No newcomer, however, arriving in the country and applying for a residence permit causes such a high cost. The fee is, we believe, is unreasonably high.
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In relation to the issue of visa requirements and residence permits, we would like to respectfully draw your attention to the particularities of EC/EU-Turkey Association Agreement (AA) dated 12 September 1963, Additional Protocol signed between the EU and Turkey and come into force on 1 January 1973 and decisions of Association Council as well as related case-law of European Court of Justice. According to Art. 12 AA, the contracting parties agreed to be guided by Articles 48, 49 and 50 EC for the purpose of progressively securing freedom of movement for persons between them. Art. 36 of the Additional Protocol gives the Association Council exclusive powers to lay down detailed rules for the progressive attainment of freedom of movement for persons.
ECJ set some significant ground rules for the relationship between the EU and Turkey in terms of free movement of services and freedom of settlement. It has been openly acknowledged that Article 41 of Additional Protocol has direct effect. According to the aforesaid Article, both sides shall not bring new restrictions on freedom of settlement and free movement of services.
As a result, member countries, as regards freedom of settlement and free movement of services, shall not introduce and apply national measures (for Turkish nationals) that are more stringent and restrictive than those, which were applicable prior to the date, on which Additional Protocol came into force; therefore the national measures that are more favourable shall be applicable for Turkish nationals. (so-called “Stillhalteklausel/Standstill clause”).
To put it differently, if a member country did not use to require visa for Turkish nationals at the time Additional Protocol came into effect, but did so later on, that particular member country can no longer consider such stringent and restrictive rules applicable for Turkish nationals concerning their freedom of settlement and free movement of services.
Additional Protocol was signed by the Netherlands together with other founding fathers of the European Community, namely Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg on 23 November 1970.
The reason we preferred to dwell also on the case-law is to unearth once again often-forgotten well-established fact: Non-Derogability. Non-derogability is, what ECJ calls, a “standstill clause”.
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Is Holland vol? Niet zo, denken wij. In fact, we do not have a clear answer for the question as we do not think it is relevant for any reason. What we clearly know, however, is that this business is not a matter of full-ness or empty-ness in general. The issue is not simply, say, a matter of a body which has a limited capacity to float on the water and some more pupils come and the floating body starts to sink. Producing an academic work is a matter of capacity building, therefore generating a value, not wasting something that has grown bigger and bigger with the efforts of past generations. What the newcomers need is principally the institutions – academic and social – in which they can experience their skills and produce value. Giving the visitors the impression or expressing the unwelcoming idea, explicitly or implicitly, is not one of the ways, we believe, to expect the performance of the country to rise.
The Netherlands Alumni Association of Turkey could perhaps play a role in this. And we are willing to. We very much believe that both parties have the capacity to generate a solution if we consider the problem in institutional terms and apply institutional means. One of the biggest of all, we claim, is to be aware of the quality of the problem that immigration is a social and political issue with consequences that affect the academic life directly. We have no doubt that the bureaucracy in the Netherlands is willing to solve the problem. And we have no doubt that the bureaucracy in the Netherlands opts for the best solution for each party. This requires an understanding regarding special conditions of each new comer as well as the aims and needs of the academic fellows visiting the Netherlands for short or long periods.
It is certain that the Netherlands Institute for Higher Education (NIHAnkara) is an expression of good intentions between the two countries. We support the initiative passionately and believe that it could be used as an opportunity to prove the public that institutional solutions are quite possible. The national governments of the Netherlands and Turkey as well as the civil institutions in close collaboration with the governments do want to develop a solution to it. The Netherlands Alumni Association of Turkey will not give up, in this respect, the hopes to improve the conditions and will keep providing support for the initiatives taken by any party.
