“Not clever to cut down on grey matter”

Mr Torfs assumes that the government didn’t think their higher education budget cuts through. “It’s not very clever of them to cut down on grey matter, we don’t have many other natural resources in Flanders. As far as I know, oil hasn’t been found yet”, said rector Torfs in ‘De ochtend’.
“We know that they intend to save a lot. Perhaps the government doesn’t realise how big the consequences will be. We’re counting on them to ease up on the planned budget cuts, so we can remain a country with low tuition fees.”

The Leuven University Rector emphasises that all universities and colleges have to work together with the government to agree on what the consequences of the budget cuts will agree.
“Otherwise, we might end up with like America, with students having to take out loans and start off their careers with huge amounts of debt. This doesn’t fit our current system. It’s absolutely ridiculous that the Belgians have to pay high taxes, high tuition fees and on top of that, have to fear power cuts this winter”, Rik Torfs added.