News item | 6/30/2023 | 18:12
The government is making 635 million euros available from the National Growth Fund for projects in the fields of education, culture and science. Almost 1 billion euros has also been served for this purpose. This money is intended for five proposals, including those aimed at the professional development of teachers, better educational accommodation and further digital transition in the creative industry. Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) and Rianne Letschert (chair of the National Growth Fund advisory committee) announced this today.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, in very close cooperation with parties from the various sectors, submitted a total of five proposals in this application round. In its advisory report, the National Growth Fund writes: ‘The proposals that have been awarded are aimed at improving education by improving the quality of teachers, science and technology education and educational accommodation.’
Three of these projects receive (conditional) funding from the National Growth Fund. Money has been reserved for two projects, but adapted proposals must first be submitted.
National Approach Professionalization of Teachers
73 million euros has been made available from the Growth Fund for the National Approach to the Professionalisation of Teachers. This is a ten-year trajectory for primary and secondary education and secondary vocational education. The program is intended to strengthen the quality of teachers and to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession. If an interim evaluation later shows that this approach is bearing fruit, another 87 million euros will be available for this project.
Education housing innovation programme
Good education requires good school buildings. To ensure this, an innovation program has been set up for higher quality educational accommodation and faster and more efficient construction processes for primary and secondary schools. This program can count on 275 million euros. However, a number of issues need to be worked out first. An additional EUR 209 million has also been reserved for future plans for this project.
Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition
The Ministries of Education, Culture and Science and Economic Affairs, together with the Top Team Creative Industry and CLICK NL, have submitted a proposal to boost the development of technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. This Creative Industries Immerse Impact Coalition does this by providing more skilled professionals, facilities, knowledge and methods. The National Growth Fund has conditionally awarded 200 million euros for this project.
Reservation for Delta Plan Valorisation & Talent of the Future
The National Growth Fund reserves a maximum of around 770 million euros for two other projects from the OCW sectors. Both of these plans must be adjusted and then resubmitted and approved before (part of) that money becomes available. It concerns a project for talent development in technology education (Talent of the future) and the Delta Plan Valorisation, which focuses on the (economic) use of research results and charts their impact on society.
About the National Growth Fund
The government will invest 20 billion euros between 2021 and 2025 with the National Growth Fund. The fund is intended for one-off public investments in projects that contribute to sustainable economic growth. It is an initiative of the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate and Finance. They jointly manage the fund on behalf of the cabinet. An independent committee assesses the projects and gives advice. The cabinet then decides whether the money will be awarded. The allocations and reservations announced today are part of the third application round of the National Growth Fund. In the meantime, with today’s allocation round, a positive advice of 11.8 billion euros has been received from the National Growth Fund, including the reservations.