Nuffic opens a new office in Mexico City
On 7 February 2007, Nuffic – the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education – established its first permanent presence outside Holland and Southeast Asia with the opening of its Netherlands Education Support Office (NESO) in Mexico City. To mark this important occasion, the Director-General for Higher Education at the Ministry of Education, Mr Jo van Ham, presented Nuffic with four scholarships, each worth 21,000 euro, for talented Mexican students who want to continue their studies in the Netherlands. Two of the scholarships are provided by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and are intended for study at TU/e itself. The TU/e is to send a delegation to Mexico in the coming period in order to strengthen ties with Mexican higher education institutions.
Nuffic supports Dutch higher education institutions with their international marketing activities. Most Dutch universities and other higher education providers actively seek to recruit students from other countries. There are currently more than 1,200 English-taught courses and programmes specifically aimed at this target group. In 2006, about 40,000 international students chose Holland as their study destination. Institutions are also increasingly active in offering related services, such as curriculum franchising and consultancy. They also take on joint teaching and research projects.
Supported in part by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Nuffic is able to maintain a network of Netherlands Education Support Offices (NESOs), which concentrate on providing information on the opportunities that Dutch higher education can offer, not just to students, but especially to institutions and researchers. As our overseas representative offices, the NESOs also have an important liaison role. They help Dutch institutions, researchers and students to make the right contacts in their respective countries.
The Internet plays an important role, of course, in the international marketing of Dutch higher education, with the www.studyin.nl website at the centre of the campaign.
Nuffic already has NESOs in Beijing, Taipei, Jakarta and Ho Chih Minh City. We plan to expand this network in the near future by opening offices in Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Moscow.
Source: NUFFIC, 20 February 2007
