Executive Board HU: Plan to introduce a Covid-19 admission check impossible and harmful for students and teachers
“Education should be 100% accessible, the CTB restricts access. It is also impossible to introduce physical checks at all locations, for all students, teachers and employees. And it is also impossible to offer education live and online at the same time. We understand the governments need for measures to combat Covid-19, but the CTB in this form is unacceptable. There are less disruptive alternatives - both for students as for teachers. We hope that the House of Representatives will endorse this”, says Jan Bogerd, chairman of the Executive Board of HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. “Teachers are already at the end of their rope, this is really no longer possible.”
According to Jan Bogerd, the introduction of the CTB in the proposed form would – in addition to practical consequences- cause unnecessary damage. “This plan is harmful for students, teachers and other colleagues in the HU community, the plan affects the well-being of the HU community as a whole and that should never be the result of such measures. Last week the RIVM report was published showing that 51% of the students experiences psychological complaints, partly due to the Covid-19 crisis. We must not forget that the HU community has worked hard over the past 20 months to keep education, research and the business going. And just as important: this plan endangers the quality of education and that is unacceptable.”
Maurice Limmen, Chairman of Vereniging Hogescholen: “It is obvious that the introduction of a Covid Admission Check will be at the expense of the accessibility of education. We cannot offer education both live and online at the same time. Politicians must make a fair assessment and not impose an impossible task on our teachers.”
Universities and Universities op Applied Sciences are doing everything as safe and responsible as possible. There were no large clusters of infections, the vaccination rate among students and employees is high and in addition a large part of the students has already recovered from Covid. In addition to these questions concerning the proportionality of the use of CTB’s it is also impossible to implement. Maurice Limmen: “Students come to the campus on a daily base and visit multiple buildings. That is really different from the occasional visit to a concert. That is why limited control in higher education is justifiable. We ask politics to create that possibility.” Chairman of the VSNU Pieter Duisenberg: “A university is not a festival site. We cannot put a few security guards in one place and that is it. It is impossible to check hundred thousand students in hundred locations.“
