Corona update 20 March 2020
We have now organized a great deal of education remotely, which is an enormous achievement. In the meantime, there are of course many questions about tests, internships, the BSA and graduation. Many questions to which the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (VH), together with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), are looking to answer. There is some new information available on the BSA, internships and financial support for students.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has requested the universities of applied sciences to postpone the issue of negative binding study advice (BSA) to the second academic year, using the existing statutory option. Institutions now allow education and examinations to proceed as far as possible (in alternative forms). However, this will be difficult for some of the study programmes and students. As a result, students may experience delays due to the corona crisis, and therefore will not meet the BSA standard. We will investigate how this works out for the HU in the coming days.
As we indicated last week, according to OCW, internships can continue, unless the employer has reason to stop the internship because of corona (measures). The medical and healthcare courses and educational forms in which students work in a healthcare institution, in the form of an internship or education, such as a UMC, a general hospital or an extramural healthcare institution, form a special category. In this situation it applies that in some cases it is necessary for regular interns and medical interns to go home, because the care institution must be able to focus primarily on the care process. Sometimes it is necessary that regular and medical interns stay, because they make an important contribution to patient care. Students who get into this situation will receive more information about this from their study programme.
The regular registration deadline for students (May 1) is postponed to June 1. This gives possibilities to students who were unable to register on time due to the coronavirus.
It must also be prevented that an MBO student cannot start his HBO program next academic year due to a small study delay, which is the result of this corona crisis. This concerns MBO students who, due to this crisis, were still unable to complete one or a few small subjects before 1 September or are in the process of completing professional training and can do so before 1 January 2021. The HU will admit this student to his or her education. If the MBO diploma is not obtained before 1 January 2021, the student will still have to leave the HBO programme.
Due to the corona measures, students may experience acute financial problems, for example because they are temporarily unable to work. In this context, DUO (Education Implementation Service) indicates the possibility of temporarily increasing your loan per month. This can also be done retroactively, up to the beginning of the academic year. You can also apply for tuition fee credit. You can arrange this yourself in my DUO. If this is insufficient, you can contact DUO about the possibilities. DUO strives for maximum leniency towards students who are facing financial setbacks due to the corona measures.
There are no guidelines or measures available for the planned tests and exams. Together with lecturers and specialists the HU is investigating the possibilities of organising remote tests for all study programmes. This is not an easy task, because we need to ensure that the character and function of a test is preserved. In addition, there are other forms of tests, which cannot take place now. We are also considering if and how it is possible to take these tests remotely.
Finally
It is really a very unreal picture: the campus is empty, all buildings are empty and it is very quiet. We miss the presence, energy and the buzz of our students and employees. That's why we created a hashtag: #wijzijnhu. Follow this hashtag on social media and see where our students and employees are and how they study and work from home.