Nuffic

All 10 foreign offices of Nuffic, the organisation set up to promote the internationalisation of Dutch education, will get the chop in the next 3 years. The announcement was made this week. The Netherlands Education Support offices, or 'NESOs' as they are known, are located in Brazil, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Turkey, Russia, India, Mexico and Korea.

With the Netherlands earning a third of its gross domestic product (GDP) from foreign trade, internationalisation in its education sector is of paramount importance. This is according to Peter Potman from the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs who was interviewed by Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for the promotion of higher education in the Netherlands. "Dutch companies need people with international experience. If the Netherlands wants to be counted in the world, it needs to internationalise its education," said Potman, acting director-general of foreign economic affairs at the ministry.

Wittenborg helps Neso Russia celebrate its 10th anniversary in Moscow, whilst strengthening ties with its partners in Moscow. Yesterday saw around 15 Dutch research and applied science universities join the Nuffic in Moscow to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Netherlands Education Support Office (Neso) in Moscow.

Internationalisation in Dutch higher education has been dealt a major setback after it became public this week that the government is planning a substantial cut in the subsidy it gives to Nuffic - the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, which has been operating since 1952.

Representatives from Nuffic Neso Mexico, China, North Korea and Vietnam visited several institutions in the Netherlands, including Wittenborg, to learn what they offer international students, whilst providing valuable insights on student mobility in their own countries.

Dutch universities have been consistently successful in drawing huge numbers of international students. Now they want to focus more on attracting quality students from abroad, rather than sheer quantity.

The share of international students in the Netherlands has risen from 10.5% to 11.5% the past year with Italy overtaking China as the 2nd biggest country of origin after Germany.

The Dutch are considering a travel card for international students to give them a discount on public transport after a successful trial in 2018 involving five universities and four universities of applied sciences. About 3,000 of these special OV-chipcards were issued. Another test run across the country will be done in the next academic year.

Nuffic, the agency promoting Dutch higher education abroad, held a successful workshop on social media and storytelling with its Study in Holland student ambassadors at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences' campus in Apeldoorn recently.