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NFP-NPT Newsletter
The Netherlands Fellowship
In the previous quarter, Nuffic staff were involved in a number of
Programmes (NFP) identification missions to Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The Netherlands Programme for Cooperation with the Dutch embassies is going well.
the Institutional Strengthening of The institutions in the Netherlands are becoming more accustomed to the
programme and its specific requirements, and the programme's new
Post-secondary Education and elements (demand-driven, flexibility and a good cost-benefit ratio) are
beginning to win hearts and minds in the field. Nuffic is always looking for
Training Capacity (NPT)
areas of the programme that can be improved. For example, some aspects
June 2004 of the tender procedure were recently overhauled so as to broaden
opportunities to create consortiums with non-Dutch partners, and to
Changes in the NPT tender procedure 2
increase the weighting given at the assessment stage to the quality of
New head of the Cooperation Programmes Section 2 providers and their approach to the proposal.
Country reports 3
Introducing officers: Miriam Langeveld 5 More details on these and other items are provided elsewhere in this issue.
Status of NPT Calls for tenders 6 You will also find introductions to Mr Joep Houterman, head of the NPT,
NPT project outlines during the summer break 8 and Ms Miriam Langeveld, NPT programme officer. Joep took up his post
Column 8 as head of the Cooperation Programmes section in November 2003 and
Important news for NFP scholarship applicants 9 considers one of his most important tasks to ensure a good team
Allocation of NFP Master degree scholarships 9
performance. It is no surprise then that Joep wanted the rest of the NPT
Embassy deadlines for NFP 2004 and 2005 10
team to be in the photo with him.
Status of NFP Calls for tenders 11
NFP project outlines during the summer break 12
Differences between the NPT projects I would like to draw the attention of the readers to an important
and NFP Tailor-made training 12 announcement on page 9 about the early starting dates of a number of NFP
The NFP and NPT programmes in brief 13 courses in 2005. For the first time, the NFP Course List for the coming
Countries eligible for NFP 14 year includes courses that start in January and February, as well as courses
with the usual September starting date.
The next edition will be out in October, when we will focus more on
experiences from the field and gauge opinion in the South and in the
Fine tuning Netherlands on the new programmes.
Ad Boeren,
The last edition of the Newsletter focused on Editor
the Netherlands Fellowships Programme (NFP).
In turn, this edition has a bias towards the NPT
programme. The programme is now running in
13 of the 15 NPT countries, and initial activities
to identify projects will soon be underway in
both Indonesia and South Africa.
Work has already been started on the 16 NPT
projects that were contracted in late 2003. A
total of 17 new outlines have been advertised
since the start of the year, and it is expected
that this number will increase to about 50 by
the end of the year.
PO Box 29777, 2502 LT The Hague, The Netherlands
Changes in the NPT
“As to changes in the NPT scoresheet, these will affect the bids
Tender procedure themselves. We hope to encourage the formation of ‘clever’ con-
sortia, for example: combinations of educational institutions with
Nuffic has announced a number of adjustments to the firms of consultants, for example. This brings the best of both
NPT tender procedure that became effective as of worlds to a project: knowledge of the subject matter and educa-
7 April 2004. The most important changes affect the tional expertise, and know-how regarding project planning and
scoresheet used to evaluate the tenders, and the management. ”
scenarios used for deciding whether a project should
,
have an “inception period” a preparatory or introductory “I would like to emphasize the fact that Nuffic made these adjust-
phase. ments also in response to signals that reached us from the field,
which we appreciated very much. With the help of stakeholders’
Other changes i.e. enable Nuffic to attach Tender feedback, we can improve the programme. ”
Evaluation Committee’s recommendations as conditions
to the award of a grant. It will henceforth be possible for For more information, see the NFP-NPT website under
consortia to include organizations from countries other ‘Tenders’ and ‘NPT Tenders’ www.nuffic.nl/npt/
than the Netherlands that are outside the region where
the project is being carried out. Also, the allowances for
study visits to the Netherlands have been brought in line New head of the Cooperation
with those for the NFP .
Programmes Section,
Mr Joep Houterman, head of the Cooperation
Programmes section, explains. “In my view, these Joep Houterman:
changes are important. More weight will be given to the
quality of the proposed strategy, to the way the project is "Facing the challenge to make the
organized and planned, and to its proposed staffing. An
inception period is nearly always useful, because organi- NPT dynamic and result-oriented"
zations that will work together to strengthen an institution
need time and opportunity to get things clear right from We are pleased to introduce our readers to Mr Joep Houterman,
the start. It is only through communication and face-to- who took up his position as the new manager of the NPT in
face interaction that partners can work out the details November 2003.
that ensure effective implementation. NPT projects must
have quality from the outset” . Mr Houterman earned his degree in tropical animal production at
Back row (left to right): Dessi van der Meer, Hans Maltha, Anna van Marrewijk, Wietse Bruinsma, Bert van Rheenen, Arie van Dijk, Said Allaoui, Jolie Franke, David Wubs-
Mrozewics, Arnoud Legerstee
Front row (left to right): Joep Houterman, Ad Boeren, Ilse van Cooten, Ouindinda Nikièma, Sandra Jansen, Elly Stevens, Ligia Rocha, Miriam Langeveld, Koen Yap, Armand
Gaikema
2
Wageningen University. He followed this up with a compre- tender is selected. These tasks are complex and can at times be
hensive management course at INSEAD, the well-known demanding for the officers. It is therefore important that we work
business school in France. as a team so that we can support each other any time and any
Mr Houterman has worked for long or short periods in no place it is needed."
fewer than 15 countries. He started his professional
career at two institutes for international education in the
Netherlands: Larenstein and PTC+. Long-term
assignments took him to Sri Lanka and Tanzania. In 1994
he joined Stoas, a Dutch service provider in the education Country reports
sector, where he worked as project director and
consultant in projects involving rural development, the Ethiopia: only a little push needed
development of agricultural knowledge systems, and
educational development. These projects were funded by Ethiopia is one of the seven countries involved in the NPT right
various donors. In 1999 Mr Houterman became director from the start. The Royal Netherlands embassy in Addis Ababa
of the Stoas business unit for international consulting. had pinpointed Education as a priority sector for support under
the NPT.
Experience in developing countries, combined with This was fully backed by the policy and the strategic plans of the
experience with international education and in the area of Ethiopian government and the Ministry of Education in particular.
management and consultancy, made Mr Houterman The first NPT project ideas were available in 2002. In fact, the
exactly the right person to head Nuffic's Cooperation NPT cooperation plan listed about eight areas of possible
Programmes section at a time when the NPT is gathering assistance. However, producing correct Project outlines to form
considerable momentum. Mr Houterman faces the the basis of NPT Calls for tenders proved to be a difficult task. As
challenge of combining effective programme a result, only two projects had really started by the end of 2003.
implementation with good personnel management and A project for the establishment of the Ethiopian Higher Education
inspiring leadership. On this subject he has the following Strategy Institute (EHESI), and one to establish the Quality and
to say: Relevance Assurance Agency (QRAA).
"The new international education programmes must be From 19 April to 3 May 2004, Mr Joep Houterman, head of the
transparent and result-oriented and they must offer Cooperation Programmes section, and Ms Miriam Langeveld,
quality. In order to achieve this, our section has to be Nuffic's programme officer for Ethiopia, embarked on a mission to
constantly alert to constraints which the various stake- Ethiopia. They first visited the Dutch embassy in Addis Ababa and
holders experience as they participate in the NPT. Based met with representatives from the education ministry. The main
on our own experience with implementation in the NPT's purpose of this meeting was to obtain the right information for
first year, we were able to remove a number of producing accurate outlines and to streamline existing ideas with
procedural constraints. Openness to feedback and different partners.
reflection on experiences must lead to a continuous
quality check of programme management. ” On her return, Ms Langeveld shared some of her experiences
with us: "The Ethiopian policy on higher education is known to be
"The NPT is a programme with demanding procedures. quite ambitious, thanks to the dynamism of a number of driving
We are currently occupied mainly with the first three forces at the Ministry. Since 1994, after the change of the old
stages of the programme, i.e. demand identification, regime, the Government has been engaged in a process of
demand articulation, and the tendering out of project reducing the decline that occurred as a result of years of under-
outlines. Each stage requires different actions and investment in higher education. The Ethiopian Capacity Building
qualities from our team. Policy is clear, there is no doubt about that, and the government
Demand identification calls for intensive communication has been quite busy improving and expanding the universities.
between the Nuffic programme officer and his or her Student enrolment is expected to increase dramatically in the
counterpart at the Royal Netherlands embassy, and it coming years, not least because of the increasing numbers of
often involves a local consultant and stakeholders. people with a secondary education who can then move into
Together they map out the contours of NPT support to higher education. ”
the country.
The next stage, the articulation process, is a major "Also, the Government is engaged in a process of decentralisation,
challenge. In this step, the programme officer plays the part of which includes the establishment of autonomous
role of process manager, assisting the local organizations universities in all regions. We also see colleges and other learning
and local consultants with the formulation of project institutes having their status upgraded to that of university. This
outlines. process goes hand in hand with a shift of responsibilities from
In the third stage, the programme officers have to see to central government to the self-governing universities. For these
it that the outlines are advertised for tender, that the institutions, management and good governance will take on new
procedure for selecting a winner is conducted in a importance. ”
transparent and accountable manner, and that the best
3
"Furthermore, the Ethiopian's ambitions in information Nuffic had received two bids for the ICT project and one for the
and communication technologies are impressive. ICT is other project.
seen as a good way to reach more students in a situation
where technology is available, but teachers are scarce. A Only in the sector Justice, law and order was there some delay
start has already been made with the installation of com- in the drafting of PO's. Because in Uganda the NPT implementa-
puters and local area networks. ” tion plan required the formal approval of all 11 bodies represented
"There is also a growing wish to introduce new teaching on the Ugandan steering committee for this sector, which include
methods. Replacing the top-down teaching method with not only government ministries but also the various agencies
one that centres around the student's learning needs, for directly or indirectly involved with law enforcement. Nuffic is
example. Another Government ambition is that education pleased that this approval has now been obtained.
should contribute to providing students with a more Meanwhile, Nuffic had advised the steering committee to start
critical approach and giving them more say. In Ethiopia, it developing outlines for projects to strengthen the police and the
is called 'problem-oriented and interactive teaching' and schools for training prison staff. Initially there were to have been
there is already a programme running to train a crack two PO's, but these have been combined into one for the sake
team of teachers to provide this type of teaching. of efficiency and effectiveness. If all continues to go well, there
Looking to the future, it will be important to establish should soon be a project outline to put out to tender in the sector
support units in each university to provide material and of Law enforcement.
fresh human resource development. We believe that the Things are looking good in the Local-government sector as well.
NPT could be a good option to help realize the aims Institutions have been invited to draft a PO under the title
already outlined, in particular support for policy making, 'Programme for human rights and good governance for local
strategy development, training and mentoring." authorities'. And in the area of Procurement and public assets,
the following Call for tenders was published on 4 May: 'NPT
After the visit, agreement was reached on three project support for institutional capacity development in public and
outlines (PO). The Call for tenders for the first one, private procurement management in Uganda'. The closing date
'Development of Leadership and Management Capacity for submitting tenders was 25 June 2004. A second project out-
in Higher Education' was published early June. Two more line should be ready for advertising shortly.
PO's are presently being processed. One relates to
'Development of ICT policy in Higher Education', and the Rwanda: eligible for both the NFP and the NPT
other to 'Establishing and strengthening of Pedagogical
Resource Centres at eight Higher Education Institutions'. Rwanda has featured on the list of countries eligible for the
Netherlands Fellowships Programmes (NFP) right from their start,
The Nuffic mission also engaged in discussions on the and was added to the list of NPT countries in March 2003.
need to adapt the NPT cooperation plan to the Shortly afterwards the Royal Netherlands embassy in Kigali
changing context. earmarked the following sectors for NPT support
• Rural economic transformation;
Uganda: active involvement of many stakeholders • Justice and human rights.
In the third quarter of 2003, institutes considered leading in the
NPT is focussed on four sectors that have been chosen area of rural economic transformation were identified and asked
for Dutch support in Uganda:
• Education;
• Justice, law and order;
• Local government;
• Procurement and Public assets (which cuts across all
sectors).
Some 20 project ideas emerged from stakeholders'
meetings during the last quarter of 2003: approximately
five ideas for each sector. Many of the ideas were
accompanied by a shortlist of organizations capable of
conducting the project.
The intensive work of elaborating ideas into Project
outlines (PO) resulted in the publication of two Calls for
tenders in the Education sector: for projects entitled In the week of 21-25 June a delegation from Rwanda visited the Netherlands. This
'Building a sustainable ICT training capacity in the public photograph documents the delegation’s visit to Nuffic on 22 June 2004.
universities of Uganda', and 'Capacity-building of the In front from left to right: Dr C. Yisa, Director planning of the Ministry of Education;
National Council for Higher Education'. The tender Professor Dr. Romain Murenzi, Minister of Education of Rwanda; Professor Dr. Silas B.
documents for each of these projects were requested or Lwakabamba, Rector of the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, visiting Nuffic on
downloaded by approximately 20 candidate organizations. 22 June 2004
By 13 April 2004, the closing date for submitting tenders, In the back: John Pracht, Jos Walenkamp, David Wubs-Mrozewicz (Nuffic)
4
to submit project ideas. From 8 to 20 February 2004, a
delegation from Nuffic visited Rwanda. The delegation
included our Rwanda contacts, Ms Annette van Engen,
NFP fellowship officer, and Mr David Wubs-Mrozewicz for
the NPT. They were accompanied by Dr Jos Walenkamp,
director of Nuffic's department for Human Resource and
Institutional Development. The mission was to explore
possibilities for starting up activities under both schemes.
Especially in the rural economic transformation sector,
activities are already producing results. The Nuffic
delegation visited various potential partner organizations,
including the National University of Rwanda. A stakeholders'
meeting was held in Kigali on 12 February, chaired by
Rwanda's Minister of Education. At the meeting, several
NPT project ideas were presented and discussed.
Agreement was reached on some of them, and detailed
Project outlines are now being prepared. The first two
Calls for tender were published on 16 May 2004. They
relate to 'Strengthening of the Institut Supérieur
d'Agriculture et d'Élévage (ISAE)' and the Master of Introducing officers
Science degree programme in water resources and
environmental management, respectively. The closing Miriam Langeveld
date for submission of tenders in both procedures is 12
July 2004. A third call relates to 'Social Statistics and We are pleased to introduce our readers to a new NPT pro-
Demography at the National University of Rwanda', and gramme officer who joined Nuffic in February 2004. Ms
was published on 9 June 2004 with closing date for Langeveld is the contact person for Ethiopia and Benin.
submission of tenders on 19 August. Other Calls will "I studied biology in Amsterdam, where I also took courses in
follow shortly. education. My first job, at BirdLife International, was in the field
of bird conservation and included one year in Cameroon. From
Colombia: local consultant for one NPT sector 1995 to 2003 I lived and worked in West Africa, employed by the
Dutch development agency SNV. My first post was in Niger,
Colombia was added to the list of NPT countries at the where I started as a project manager with special responsibility
end of 2003, and within a few months the first activities for issues involving gender. I found it a rather difficult job but also
to get the programme going had taken place. Nuffic very exciting. Then in 1998 I accepted a job with SNV in Benin,
appointed senior programme officer Jolie Franke as the mainly because it meant working more in a team. I became a
contact person for Colombia. Ms Franke is working technical assistant in a rural development project. In 2000 I
closely with the Dutch embassy in Bogotá. In Colombia, returned to Niger as a senior advisor on the subject of gender,
Dutch bilateral development cooperation is concentrated ethnicity and race. I stayed in Niger until 2003.
on two sectors:
• Good governance, Human rights and Peace-building; "For me, witnessing the process of how people first become
• the Environment. aware of the knowledge and skills they possess, and then begin
applying them more deliberately, has always been a stimulating
From 21 to 27 March 2004 Ms Franke was in Colombia part of my work. Adult education-or experiential learning-is an
for an identification mission. She visited the Royal Dutch interesting and rewarding field to be involved with.
embassy and had meetings and discussions with some
30 selected stakeholders. "I hope that I can apply what I have learned in this field to my
It was decided that a local consultant will be hired to work in the NPT. The procedure for NPT projects is basically
follow up the identification process in the environmental demand-driven. Stakeholders do not have to be given lessons in
sector and to help draft three detailed outlines for NPT how to solve their problems of insufficient capacity in higher
projects. education. If partners sit down and analyse a problem together,
The follow-up to the identification process in the sector of they can identify the best solution themselves. My role is merely
Good governance, human rights and peace-building will to draw their attention to something they might have overlooked
be done in close cooperation with the Dutch embassy. or forgotten."
The first Project outlines are expected to be submitted to
Nuffic by July 2004. "With luck they can be put out to
tender shortly after that", says Ms Franke.
5
Status of NPT calls for tenders, June 2004
Country Project title or keyword of Project outline Present situation Dutch winner
organization
Ethiopia Development of leadership and management capacity in Call published
higher education
Ethiopia Pedagogical resource centres and education facilities at 8 Higher Project outline being
Education institutions processed
Ethiopia Development of ICT policy in Higher Education Project outline being
processed
Ghana Capacity-building in problem solving methodologies and Call published
training of academic staff, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Ghana MA programme in governance and sustainable development Call published
Ghana Strengthening agricultural engineering education and training at Call published
Wa, Ho and Bolgatanga Polytechnics
Ghana Strengthening management capacity of the Polytechnics Project outline being
processed
Ghana Polytechnics - Building technology Project outline being
processed
Ghana Polytechnics - Fashion design Project outline being
processed
Ghana Water resources and environmental sanitation Project outline being
processed
Ghana Polytechnics - Business information technology Project outline being
processed
Ghana Polytechnics - Civil engineering Project outline being
processed
Ghana ICT Education Centre Project outline being
processed
Guatemala Fortalecimiento División de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales (CUNOC) Call published
(Strengthening of the Judicial and Social Sciences Division of
CUNOC)
Guatemala Fortalecimiento de la Academia de la Policía Nacional Civil (APNC) Winner selected Hogeschool Leiden
(Strengthening of the Civilian Police Academy)
Guatemala Gestion local ambiental (Local environmental management) Project outline being
processed
Guatemala Fiscalia ambiental (Environmental law) Project outline being
processed
Guatemala Desarrollo rural (Rural development) Project outline being
processed
Mozambique Support to HIV/Aids research programmes Project outline being
processed
Mozambique Information - and communication technology (ICT) Project outline being
processed
6
Mozambique Support to HIV/Aids research programmes Project outline being
processed
Mozambique Information - and communication technology (ICT) Project outline being
processed
Rwanda MSc programme in water resources and environmental manage- Call published
ment
Rwanda Social statistics and demography at the National University of Call published
Rwanda
Rwanda Strengthening of the Institut Supérieur d'Agriculture et Call published
d'Élevage (ISAE) for rural economic transformation in Rwanda
Rwanda Development and implementation of an organisational Call published
development plan for the Université Internationale au Rwanda -
UNIR
Rwanda Master degree programme in agro-forestry and soil management Call published
Rwanda Development of geographic information sciences based education Project outline being
and research programme processed
Rwanda Establishment of an innovation, technology and business incuba- Project outline being
tion facility processed
Uganda Building a sustainable ICT training capacity in the public Winner selected Groningen University -
universities in Uganda consortium
Uganda Capacity-building of the National Council for Higher Education Winner selected Twente University
(CHEPS)
Uganda Capacity-building in public and private procurement in Uganda Call published
Uganda Wireless networking in a rural environment, Martyrs University Project outline being
(UMU) processed
Uganda Capacity building, the College of Health Sciences and in the dis- Project outline being
tricts processed
Uganda Community mobilization for socio-economic development Project outline being
processed
Uganda Human rights and good governance for local authorities Project outline being
processed
Uganda Strengthening the police and prisons school Project outline being
processed
Vietnam Developing a demand driven agro-forestry vocational & technical Project outline being
education system processed
Vietnam Quality assurance system for higher education in Vietnam Project outline being
processed
Yemen Women's research and training centre Call published
Yemen Establishment of MBA degree programmes at Sana'a University Call published
Yemen Water and Environment Center (WEC) Call published
7
NPT Project outlines during
the Summer break
The status published on page 7 includes the topics of
NPT Project outlines (PO) being processed in the various
countries. Nuffic will continue to publish PO's during the
Summer break. Potential Dutch partner organizations will
get an additional 21 days to prepare their bids for Calls for
tender published in the months June and July.
Column
Outcome
I don't know what the situation is in your country, but here in the Netherlands everything has to be result-oriented these
days. It's no longer about the products you sell, but what you can achieve with those products: the outcome. Oh yes, and
the outcome has to be measurable, too. This column, for example, is not just a column, but a product. It's part of my
output. But what is the outcome? Well, I'm a modest man with modest ambitions. I'd be fairly happy if you could read this
piece from start to finish with a smile on your face.
Already, you can begin to see the problems that this outcome-oriented approach creates: it's simply too difficult to quantify
the outcome of some activities. The aim of my column is to induce in you, the reader, a certain feeling that may elicit a
smile. But that might not necessarily happen. You might decide to hide your feelings, for example, even though you're still
feeling them. 'OK,' I hear you say, 'why don't you just conduct a survey of your readers and ask them whether they e
njoyed your column?' Well, I could. But that wouldn't be the answer. Are we to let the power of statistics reign supreme?
If twelve readers of this journal were to gain pleasure from my column —a real high-quality pleasure that lasts and lasts—
would I have then succeeded in my mission?
On the other hand, though, we do need detailed information on quantifiable results if we want to properly evaluate an
activity. And this fact is no more true than in education. Yet statistics don't tell us everything. One important outcome of a
good education could slip right through your fingers. And that is pure unadulterated enthusiasm.
This is the kind of enthusiasm that you can sense at conferences of scientific and academic specialists, not so much during
the speeches and presentations, but throughout the evening as the delegates sit at the dinner table, talking about their field
until deep into the night. It is this enthusiasm that is ultimately the driving force behind every desire to learn something
new.
If our universities and other centres of learning cannot instil this enthusiasm, then they will have failed, no matter how
good they make their quantifiable results look.
And the person who manages to develop objective criteria for measuring enthusiasm should be given the Nobel Prize.
Han van der Horst,
Senior communication officer, Nuffic
8
This increase is due to the sizeable investments made by Dutch
Important news for NFP higher education institutions in developing new international
Master's degree programmes, a move spurred on by the recent
scholarship applicants introduction of the Bachelor's—Master's degree structure in the
Netherlands. Furthermore, the Dutch institutions greatly value the
1 October 2004 deadline for courses starting in 2005 inclusion of their courses in the NFP Course List and are only too
For the first time, the NFP Course List for the coming pleased to accept NFP scholarship holders.
year includes courses that start in January and February,
as well as courses with the usual September start date. See also the list of important dates and deadlines for the NFP on
page 10. The NFP Course List 2005 can be found on Nuffic's
There are 45 early-starting courses in total, and the website and downloaded as a PDF file. Readers can also contact
application deadline for these is much earlier. Candidates Ms Inge Zuidema by e-mail (Izuidema@nuffic.nl) or by regular mail
must have completed their academic admission (see contact details on the back cover).
formalities by around 1 September 2004. In most
countries, 1 October is the closing date for receipt of Work permit no longer needed
applications by the Dutch embassies for these early- There is good news. As of 1 May 2004, students who come to
starting programmes. the Netherlands to earn a PhD as part of an NPT project no
longer need a work permit. The same is true for PhD students on
NFP Course List 2005 NFP fellowships; they do not need a work permit to conduct their
Early in 2004, the existing NFP Course List for 2004 was research. PhD students are ordinarily classified as employees in
updated, and the Dutch institutions could once again the Netherlands, which is why students on fellowships from their
propose new courses and programmes for inclusion in own country do still need a work permit.
the Course List 2005. The result was a new NFP Course
List with an unprecedented number of courses, including Students who come to the Netherlands under the NFP or NPT
358 Master's degree programmes and 227 Short programme in order to earn a bachelor's or master's degree or
courses. take a short course never have needed a work permit. They are
classified as students rather than employees.
Allocation of NFP embassy and had met all the NFP criteria.
scholarships for master's In figures
In April 2004, the annual allocation of scholarships for
degree programmes international master's degree programmes took place.
Applications were received for 180 of the 265 different courses.
Background Around EUR 11 million had been made available this year for the
This year's NFP Course List included 265 Master's allocation of new scholarships. At an average cost of EUR 29,000
programmes available to candidates, an increase of 150 per scholarship, this would allow for the allocation of 371
on last year. For the first time, the list of available scholarships. Ultimately, the 371 scholarships were allocated to
Master's programmes was not limited to the courses 113 courses and programmes as a proportion of the demand
offered by the institutions for international education and per course.
the registered universities previously involved in the old-
style Netherlands Fellowship Programme, but based on a This meant that 2,500 of the qualified applications had to be
broad survey of potential providers of master's courses. turned down. This is unfortunate because all 2,500 of these
This broadened the choice of courses considerably. The applications were from candidates who had already been
new list contained no less than 25 master's degree accepted by the institutions (this is one of the conditions of the
programmes offered by the universities for professional application procedure) and whose applications had been
education, which generally offer more practically-oriented assessed as relevant by the Dutch embassies.
courses, sometimes referred to as 'professional master's
programmes'. The threshold was high this year, as only one scholarship could
be awarded for an average of seven qualified applications. The
Through the Dutch embassies, Nuffic received more than institutions completed their selection procedure in May/June by
3,000 applications, 2,888 of which were 'qualified'. This selecting a number of qualified candidates from the list to match
means that they had been recommended by the the number of scholarships allocated by Nuffic.
9
A woman from Bangladesh or a man from Rwanda? There are two exceptions to the above:
In many cases, the final selection proved almost • For Refresher Courses, proposals can be submitted directly
impossible as choices had to be made between to Nuffic according the deadline mentioned below
candidates who are all highly talented and who all meet (1 November 2004).
the NFP's priority criteria. The choice might be between a • For NFP tailor-made training there is no deadline for
woman from Asia and a man from sub-Saharan Africa, for submitting outlines. The Dutch embassies accept Tailor-made
example. Both groups belong to the programme's priority outlines throughout the year.
groups. The Dutch institutions had to notify Nuffic of their
provisional selections by mid-June. 2004
In the beginning of July, Nuffic notifies the embassies in 1 June First deadline at the Dutch embassies for NFP
each country about the selected candidates, so that they PhD studies 2005.
may be contacted and informed of the decision. At the (See the 2005 NFP brochure for detailed information. Copies
same time (or soon afterwards), the selected candidates of the brochure are available at Nuffic and at the Dutch
receive their official NFP Fellowship Letter from the embassies and consulates.)
embassy. The unfortunate candidates who have not been
selected are sent a letter by the Dutch institutions (via the 1 July Fifth Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
Embassy). 2004.
(Check the 2004 NFP Course List for the deadlines, as they
In partnership with the Dutch embassies, the institutions vary from course to course. Course lists are available at the
have already begun their logistic and organizational Dutch embassies and consulates.)
preparations for the students' study period in the
Netherlands. The NFP fellowship holders can then travel 1 July First Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
to the Netherlands in August or September. 2005.
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the individual deadlines.
For further information on the scholarship allocation read- Copies of the Course list are available at Nuffic and at the
ers may send an e-mail to Ms Annette van Engen Dutch embassies and consulates.)
(Avengen@nuffic.nl) or contact her by regular mail (see
address details on back cover). 1 October Second Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
2005.
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the individually varying
deadlines. Course lists are available at the Dutch embassies
and consulates.)
1 October Second Embassy deadline for PhD studies 2005.
(See the NFP programme brochure and the NFP-NPT website
for up to date information.)
1 October First Embassy deadline for Master's degree pro-
Embassy deadlines grammes 2005.
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the deadlines. Course
for NFP 2004 and 2005 lists are available at the Dutch embassies and consulates.)
1 November Nuffic deadline for submitting proposals for NFP
Please note that the deadlines listed here are the refresher courses 2005.
deadlines for submitting applications at the Royal Proposals can be submitted by NFP alumni, by
Netherlands embassies. The forms and documents are their employers, or by the Dutch provider of an
then forwarded to Nuffic. initial course or training. The proposals are to be
submitted directly to Nuffic.
The dates are based on an inventory recently carried out 1 November Third Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
by Nuffic, and hold for the majority of embassies in the 57 2005.
NFP countries. Prospective applicants for admission to a (Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the deadlines, as they
programme in the Netherlands and for an NFP vary from course to course.)
fellowship for a short course, Master's degree
programme or PhD programme, are strongly advised to
contact the Embassy in their country to check the various
dates and ask about any additional local procedures.
10
2005 1 October Second Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
1 March Fourth Embassy deadline for NFP short 2006.
courses 2005. (Check the 2006 NFP Course List for the deadlines, as they
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the individual vary from course to course.)
deadlines.)
1 March Second Embassy deadline for Master's 1 October Second Embassy deadline for PhD studies 2006.
degree programmes 2005.
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the deadlines.) 1 October First Embassy deadline for Master's degree pro-
grammes 2006.
1 June First Embassy deadline for NFP PhD (Check the 2006 NFP Course List for the deadlines.)
studies 2006.
1 November Nuffic deadline for submitting proposals for NFP
1 July Fifth Embassy deadline for NFP short refresher courses 2006.
courses 2005. Proposals can be submitted by NFP
(Check the 2005 NFP Course List for the deadlines, alumni, by their employers, or by the Dutch
as they vary from course to course.) provider of the initial course or
training. The proposals are to be submitted direct-
1 July First Embassy deadline for NFP short ly to Nuffic.
courses 2006.
(The 2006 NFP Course List is not available 1 November Third Embassy deadline for NFP short courses
yet. It will be ready in June 2005) 2006.
(Check the 2006 NFP Course List for the deadlines, as they
vary from course to course.)
Status of NFP-TP calls for tenders
Country Title of the Tailor-made training Present situation Dutch winner organization
China GIS and remote sensing for biodiversity Winner selected ITC
China CISAR instructors training Winner selected ICET
Indonesia Water and environmental management Winner selected UNESCO-IHE
Vietnam Strengthening good urban governance Winner selected
ISS
South Africa Maritime pilots and trainers training Call published
Mongolia Sustainable Development and Call published
Environmental Management
Nicaragua Educación de la Sexualidad Call published
(Education in Human Sexuality)
Bhutan Department of Geology & Mines, Call published
improvement of GIS, Lab, R&D
Peru GIS to produce environmental Atlas for Call published
Lima
ITC : International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, Enschede
ICET: International Centre for Emergency Techniques, Raamdonksveer
UNESCO-IHE: Institute for Water Education, Delft
ISS: Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
11
NFP-TP training outlines
during the summer break
No NFP-TP tailor-made training outlines will be published
in July and the first half of August, which is the summer
holiday season in the Netherlands. In this period the
organizations do not have the capacity needed to prepare
good quality proposals. Publication of new training out-
lines will resume after 15 August 2004.
Differences between the NPT projects and NFP Tailor-made training
NPT projects NFP Tailor-made training proposals
The NPT programme funds cooperation projects between The NFP-TP programme funds tailor-made training for organizations in
organizations in the 15 NPT-countries and their partners in the 57 NFP countries.
the Netherlands.
In general NPT focuses on organizations involved in The NFP Tailor-made training programme is open for a broad range of
education, training or research at a professional or academic organizations ranging from educational institutes and NGO's
level. to small- and medium- sized enterprises.
A project may consist of several components, e.g. curricu- The course is meant to train a group of employees of an organization
lum development, development of course materials, on a particular topic.
improvement of facilities, staff development. When staff The course is being conducted by an organization in the Netherlands.
training is part of a project, it is funded through the project. The location of the training is the Netherlands and/or the
country/region of the requesting organization.
The NPT projects have a maximum duration of four years. The training has a minimum duration of two weeks and a maximum
duration of 12 months.
There is no fixed maximum budget for a NPT project. A NFP Tailor-made training has a maximum budget of EUR 225,000.
The budget depends on the particular proposal.
The subjects of NPT projects are preferably related to the The training can take place in any relevant field and is not limited to
sectors for bilateral cooperation between the country con- the sectors for bilateral cooperation.
cerned and the Netherlands government.
In the 15 NPT countries, benefiting organizations are chosen Organizations in the 57 NFP countries can submit a proposal for Tailor
through an identification process carried out by Nuffic in made training. The local Dutch embassy assesses whether the
cooperation with the local Netherlands embassy. proposed training subject and the requesting organization can be
considered as relevant for the development of the country.
Partners in the Netherlands are selected through a public The conducting organization in the Netherlands is selected through a
tender procedure. public tender procedure.
12
The NFP and NPT programmes in brief
The Netherlands Programme for The Netherlands Fellowship
the Institutional Strengthening Programmes (NFP)
of Post-secondary Education and
Training Capacity (NPT) Objectives and target group
The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) were launched in
2003. The NFP are focused on meeting the need for further
The NPT is an international cooperation programme training and capacity-building in a wide range of governmental,
financed by the Netherlands government. Nuffic, the private and non-governmental organizations. These include
Netherlands Organization for International educational institutions, planning agencies, ministries, community-
Cooperation in Higher Education, manages and based organizations, and private enterprises.
administers the NPT on behalf of the Netherlands The NFP target group: mid-career professionals who are nationals
government. of one of the list of countries (page 14). Candidates for an NFP
fellowship must be nominated by their employers. This nomina-
Objectives tion should contain a structured motivation.
The NFP aims to increase the fellowships' impact by linking them
The purpose of the programme is to help developing to the institutional development of organizations in developing
countries strengthen their institutional capacity for post- countries. Fellowships are awarded to individuals but their training
secondary education and training in a sustainable way. must occur within the development of the local organization for
The aim is to equip the developing countries with what which they work.
they need in order to meet their own needs for training
and manpower. NFP Academic Programme (AP)
The NFP-AP offers professionals from developing countries a
Characteristics of the programme chance to enrol in international postgraduate degree programmes
The NPT is a programme of South-North cooperation in of one or more years. Programme providers are Dutch
which expertise from Dutch organizations is mobilized to organizations. The NFP-AP modalities are:
strengthen institutional capacity in the South. This • Master's degree programmes
capacity must be relevant to the sectors and themes • PhD studies
targeted for the Dutch bilateral support given to the • Refresher courses
countries in question. More general support for the
higher education sector is also a possibility, as is support NFP Training Programme (TP)
for projects which cut across the chosen sectors and The NFP-TP enables professionals from developing countries to
themes. enrol in a diploma course or a course of tailor-made training of one
The NPT is demand-driven and flexible, and it addresses year or less. The course must be provided entirely or partly by a
local priorities. ‘Ownership’ on the part of stakeholders in ,
Dutch organization. Under NFP-TP there are:
the South is an important feature of the programme. • Short courses
The involvement of local and/or regional expertise in the • Tailor-made training
implementation of the NPT is encouraged. Local staff will • Refresher courses
be trained preferably in the region. The demand for tailor-made training is matched with what is on
To achieve a good quality-price ratio, the contracts by offer by means of an open tender procedure.
which Dutch organizations provide the necessary
services are awarded on a competitive basis. This is done NFP characteristics
through a public tender procedure in the Netherlands. • Priority is given to study and training that takes place (partly)
in the region;
Target group • At least half of the budget is to be spent on candidates or
Support can be given to organizations in the South that organizations in sub Saharan Africa;
play an important role in the development of post- • Another budget aim is to spend over half on female
secondary education and training capacity. These include candidates.
institutions for post-secondary education, government
ministries, national commissions, and NGOs. New approach
,
In 10 out of the 57 countries eligible for cooperation under NFP a
Countries participating in the NPT programme new approach for meeting training demand of local organizations
Benin, Colombia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, is introduced. In these ten countries Nuffic enters into multi-year
Indonesia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, agreements with selected organizations. Each agreement lists a
Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zambia. number of NFP funded training activities. Staff of the organiza-
tions selected will be given preference during the allocation of
fellowships and the allocation of funds for training courses.
13
NFP-NPT Newsletter
Countries eligible for NFP The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) and the
Afghanistan El Salvador Namibia
Netherlands Programme for Institutional Strengthening of Post-
secondary Education and Capacity (NPT) are financed by the
Albania Eritrea Nepal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programmes are
Armenia Ethiopia Nicaragua administrated by Nuffic in cooperation with Netherlands Embassies
and Consulates.
Autonomous Georgia Nigeria
Palestinian Territories
E d i to ri a l te a m
Bangladesh Ghana Pakistan
Mr Ad Boeren, Editor
Benin Guatemala Peru Contributors to this issue: Annette van Engen, Jolie Franke, Marjo
Bhutan Guinea-Bissau Philippines Gallé, Armand Gaikema with Maureen Bergman and Janina Victor
(Nuffic Department Internationalization), Han van der Horst, Joep
Bolivia Honduras Rwanda
Houterman, Miriam Langeveld, Hans Maltha, Anna van Marrewijk,
Bosnia-Hercegovina India Senegal Beer Schröder, David Wubs
Brazil Indonesia South Africa
E - m a i l a d d re s s e s
Burkina Faso Iran Sri Lanka • For NPT matters: npt@nuffic.nl
Cambodia Ivory Coast Suriname • For questions about the NFP Academic Programmes:
nfp-ap@nuffic.nl
Cape Verde Jordan Tanzania
• Questions about fellowships for Short courses and
China¹ Kenya Thailand Tailor-made Training: nfp-tp@nuffic.nl
Colombia Macedonia Uganda
We b s i te s
Costa Rica Mali Vietnam
www.nuffic.nl/nfp-npt
Cuba Moldova Yemen
Ecuador Mongolia Zambia L ayo u t
Elma Leidekker, Nuffic
Egypt Mozambique Zimbabwe
Design
1
Citizens from Hong Kong and Macao are exempted Grafisense BV, Rotterdam
P ri n t i n g
Nuffic
The 15 NPT countries are:
Next issue
Benin Colombia Eritrea October 2004; mailing planned for week 42
Ethiopia Ghana Guatemala
I d e a s a n d s u g ge s t i o n s
Indonesia Mozambique Rwanda The editors welcome readers’ reactions. Please send your
comments, ideas and information to: Anna van Marrewijk,
South Africa Tanzania Uganda
avmarrewijk@nuffic.nl
Vietnam Yemen Zambia
PDF
This NFP-NPT Newsletter can also be found at the website
www.nuffic.nl/nfp-npt/pdf in portable document format (PDF)
Fo r f u rt h e r i n fo rm a t i o n p l e a s e c o n t a c t
Nuffic Department for Human Resource and Institutional
Development
PO Box 29777
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 4260166
Fax: +31 (0)70 4260189
Head of Training and Fellowship Desk: Mr R.E.V.M. Schröder
Head of Section Cooperation Programmes: Mr J.F Houterman .
14
