JOURNALISTIK SPENSA WONOGIRI
LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Some 400 Indonesian students leaving for the Netherlands for further study in that country, and before that Nuffic Neso Indonesia held a pre-departure briefing at Erasmus Huis, the Dutch cultural center, in Jakarta. The students were addressed by Deputy Head of Mission of the Dutch embassy in Jakarta Mrs Annemieke Ruigrok, and Indonesian Deputy Educational Minister Fasli Jalal, and Director of Nuffic Neso Indonesia Marrik Bellen, spokesman for Nuffic Neso Indonesia Ariono Hadipuro said in Jakarta Wednesday.
While the opportunity was important for development cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands, but also to increase the cultural relations and understanding between the two nations. On the same occasion, Nuffic Neso Indonesia also announced the issuance of 148 StuNed scholarships for young professionals from various provinces in Indonesia under the Dutch-Indonesian cooperation focusing on promoting institutional capacity of development sectors.
Ariono Hadipuro said starting this year, StuNed scholarships are focused on human resources of institutions operating under a partnership with the Netherlands embassy. Nuffic Neso Indonesia director Marrik Bellen said the pre-departure briefing was aimed at providing support to the Indonesian students who are going to study in the Netherlands.
On the occasion, the students will share experience and tops on their places to stay and studies in the Netherlands, to help the students in preparing themselves for their study. Some of the things which will be discussed cover culture, adaptation to the different learning progresses and cultures, and how to interact with international teachers and students.
The participants in the pre-departure briefing include those enjoying Duth scholarships (StuNed, Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) and Huygens Scholarship Programme (HSP), and those receiving scholarships from other institutions like the communications and information ministry, the Ford Foundation, Erasmus Mundus, and others.
In the meantime, some 100 students taking care of their own fundings, also took part in the program, Ariono Hadipuro said. He said Nuffic Neso Indonesia is a non-profit organization officially appointed and funded by the Dutch government in handling various matters relating to higher education in the Netherlands.
Neso Indonesia is a representative of Nuffic, a Duth organization handling international cooperation in higher education. Neso Indonesia also provides free information and consultancy on more than 1,450 study programs given in English.
Indonesia has been initiating and facilitating cooperation in higher education among institutions in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Besides the Dutch embassy in Jakarta, Neso Indonesia is every year offering scholarship programs for 300 Indonesians in master and training programs.