However, the Flemish Minister of Education remains opposed to this request. He says he understands the desire of universities to meet the demands of professional sectors and to attract more foreign students.
But for him, this evolution cannot be done to the detriment of Flemish students and their right to quality Dutch-speaking education. He believes that the academic offer must remain democratic and accessible. According to Minister N-VA, the trend of Flemish universities also goes against the general policy pursued in Flanders, a policy which aims to pay more attention to Dutch, from kindergarten to university. As a Flemish nationalist, Ben Weyts finally recalls that it took a long time for Dutch to be accepted in Belgium as a language of instruction in its own right. We cannot therefore, in his view, squander this achievement by giving way so easily to English.
His fear is to lead to a massive anglicization of higher education such as the Netherlands knows it. In 2023, the universities of Maastricht, Twente or Tilburg still barely give a few courses in Dutch. Everything else is given in English.
According to the Flemish rectors, however, the Netherlands is far from being an example to follow. They recall that the maximum quotas of English-speaking courses imposed by the Flemish government have not yet been reached. Rick Van de Walle, wants to be reassuring: no one pleads for an anglicization of higher education in the north of the country. However, he stresses that Flanders is a Region without raw materials, but with gray matter, and that its higher education is therefore essential for its prosperity. Between the many experts who defend the position of the rectors and the many others who denounce their naivety in the face of the dangers that lie in wait, the debate promises to be still long. Consultations between the rectors and Minister Weyts should lead to a compromise. But a compromise that no one is likely to be 100% satisfied with.