Education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf to visit Summa College, Fontys and TU/e

In the morning, the minister will start the ‘variety visit’ at Summa College on the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC). He will then go to the TU/e campus, where he will first be welcomed by Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Nexus building. He will next go to TU/e itself and finally to Summa College on Sterrenlaan, where he will enter into a discussion with students from the three institutions during a ‘speak out session’ on topics that are important to them.

A recurring topic during the visit will be the high demand for technical personnel in the region. More than  70,000 additional jobs are expected over the coming years. In the coalition agreement, the government has therefore committed to further developing the ‘Mainport status’ of the Brainport region. This requires more well-trained professionals, particularly in engineering and IT but also in other sectors such as healthcare and education. In addition, many additional technical professionals are needed for the energy transition and the strengthening of Europe’s strategic autonomy, for example. To this end, the three educational institutions are working with municipalities and the business community, among others, on a Broad Brainport Talent Proposition directed towards the Hague.

This scale jump requires a joint strategy and investment by the state and Southeast Brabant. The educational institutions are therefore asking the minister for regulatory, financial and policy support. This should help to ensure that the educational capacity is adequate at all institutions. The student intake must also be more than sufficient to meet the rapidly growing demand.

To achieve this, TU/e wants to double the number of master’s graduates, among other things. In addition to a broad orientation year after secondary education, Summa College wants to focus explicitly on the (re)training of transfer students with flexible building blocks for accelerated entry into the technical sector. As a broad university of applied sciences, Fontys develops talent in virtually all sectors (including engineering) and at all levels (associate degree, bachelor, master and LLO). Together with the work field, Fontys contributes to society through hybrid learning and research environments and practice-based research.