ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with higher vocational education (HBO) in the Netherlands, with particular emphasis on higher technical education – a subset of HBO.
In 1986 a new law comes into effect which will bring HBO fully into the higher education system, and in 1987 anew funding system is being introduced Also in 1987, an operation to bring about scale expansion, concentration and specialization should be completed. The aim is to have a limited number of large HBO institutes with different types of fields of study at each one.
The background to this government policy includes the decline in student numbers, the need to economize on government expenditure, the altered demand for education, the increase in unemployment, and the tense relationship between education and the job market.
Government policy is taking the form of institutional differentiation in higher education; increased competition, variation and quality; a ‘corporate’ approach involving scale expansion and strengthening of management; deregulation, and more general regulation.
As a result of the changes there are unresolved conflicts between different types of higher educational institution (universities and HBOs), between the advocates of specialized institutions and of those catering for a wide range of subject sectors, and between the pedagogical ‘cultures’ of different sectors. While large multi-sectoral institutes have much to commend them in financial terms, one less happy consequence would be a weakening of the professional links with particular vocational fields. There are also unresolved issues of staffing and management.
