Covid

Hybrid learning – a mix of online and classroom sessions – will become the new norm in the coming academic year and Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences plans to excel in it. This was the message from Wittenborg President Peter Birdsall to staff as they prepare to continue delivering quality education to new and current students despite the looming presence of COVID-19 around the world.

The value of data in fighting the spread of COVID-19 has been emphasised by authorities around the world - from promoting mobile applications tracing the contacts of positive cases, to the exchange of data by researchers. But where does this leave an individual's right to privacy? Wittenborg lecturer Stanley Mbelu (LL.M) co-authored a recent paper on the subject with fellow academic Fortune Nwaiwu from the Tomas Bata University in the Czech Republic. It was published on Social Science Research Network.

Welcome to all our students from around the world, whether you are studying in the Netherlands, in Germany, or in Austria, or in one of the many other countries where you may be at this time. Whichever programme you are studying, the Bachelor of Business Administration, the Master of Business Administration, or the Master of Science MBM programme, we hope you will get the very most out of your studies.

We are starting this academic year, in 2020, after having experienced a period of disruption, angst, and lockdown across the world caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. By now it is clear that we will be living with the effects of the coronavirus for some time to come and there is no magic solution.  What is important is that we do not let this life-changing event stop us from developing, from learning, from improving our livelihoods, and from keeping moving on forwards.

Curious about how classrooms at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will actually look once the new academic year starts in September? Students and prospective students got a virtual behind-the-scenes tour with Wittenborg President Peter Birdsall, who showed off the safety precautions installed in classrooms and other facilities at the campuses in Apeldoorn and Amsterdam now that the Dutch government has given the go-ahead for institutions of higher education to start in-person classes again.

Dutch universities are expected to re-open en masse after the summer holiday as the government announced a further ease in restrictions this week. The Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, has called on the higher education sector to adopt a "hybrid" model, by providing online as well as class-based education – in line with a plan announced by Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences two weeks ago. Van Engelshoven emphasised the importance of face-to-face education, especially for first-year students.