More and more students come from non-Dutch-speaking homes, less successful at uni

Flemish lawmaker Tom Seurs (nationalist/N-VA) insists a good knowledge of Dutch is necessary to give young people every opportunity. Mr Seurs points out that given the increase in the number of students who don't speak Dutch in the home university support has already been modified as a result.

The figures show that in the 2014-2015 academic year, about 5.2 per cent of enrolled students (11,620 out of 223,817) did not speak Dutch at home. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the figure was 10.4 per cent (28,098 out of 269,804) of students.

The figures also indicate that about 40 per cent of students with a different home language will in time graduate, compared to an average of 60 per cent among students whose home language is Dutch. ‘If we want to give young people more opportunities, it really is necessary to also speak Dutch at home,’ Mr Seurs insists.

‘It is important for schools to become 'language engines', where more effort is put into that home language and parents are also motivated to speak Dutch at home. In that way their children will have more chances to continue studying and get a degree in higher education.’

‘Limburg Province mirrors the Flanderswide trend, although here you have a specific situation because of the former colliery villages,’ Mr Seurs adds. ‘A lot of work still needs to be done in such places to get Dutch established as a home language.’

More language coaches on the job

The figures come as no surprise to the UCLL University. ‘We see the number of students whose home language is not Dutch increasing year after year, but we are certainly prepared for this,’ says spokesperson Jan Withofs.

‘As a university of applied sciences, we want students to get off to a good start and for their success rate to be as high as possible. That is why we have provided a lot of support as well as measures to help them: think of a language screening at enrolment, summer courses to brush up language skills and a ‘Kickstart’ for students who are the first in their family to embark upon higher education.’

During the academic year, the UCLL also provides a lot of guidance. ‘There are student coaches and study coaches, as well as language coaches. They provide students with guidance during their studies allowing them to function at an academic level.’

‘Our various coaches are in huge demand. We have even strengthened our student coaching package in recent years, because we felt an increase in the need: on the one hand because of the pandemic, but also because of the increase in the number of students whose home language is not Dutch. As a university we have already had to adapt to the situation’ says Withofs.