THE HAGUE – The Dutch government has decided not to reintroduce so-called “ministerial places” that would reserve seats for Caribbean students in medical programs with limited capacity, arguing that the measure would be legally complex and potentially ineffective.
The proposal had been raised in Parliament amid concerns that Caribbean students have faced declining admission rates to numerus fixus healthcare programs since the introduction of decentralized selection in 2017. While acknowledging the problem, the government concluded that reserving seats could violate equal-treatment laws and does not guarantee that graduates would return to work in the Caribbean.
Instead, the cabinet favors alternative measures already embedded in Dutch higher education law, which require institutions to consider the specific position of Caribbean students when designing selection procedures. Universities will be pressed to make admissions processes more transparent, proportional, and accessible for applicants from the Caribbean.
The effectiveness of the new integrated approach will be evaluated after three years. Only if results fall short would reserved places be reconsidered.