Secretary of Education Hermans does not feel that the room shortage among foreign students is a reason for him to take immediate action. Housing is in the first place a matter for the local authorities and the institutes.
The secretary responds to questions in parliament on the room shortage, which is especially high among foreign students in Amsterdam and Groningen. Some had to sleep on mats in emergency accommodation, a number has left the Netherlands because of lack of housing. Others decided not to come at all.
The National Union of Students was not happy with the Secretary's remark that the students themselves decide whether they go somewhere or not. "Of course they are responsible themselves", chairperson Sofie Joosse responds, "but they come from far away and often do not know they have to find their own accommodation here. The Secretary should make clear who is responsible, housing corporations, the local authorities, the educational institutes? At this moment they all say that another is responsible."
