FACTORES QUE INTERVIENEN EN LA REVISIÓN

Financed by the Dutch state in the context of development cooperation the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) are designed to promote capacity building within organisations by providing training and education to mid-career staff.

The general objective of the NFP is ‘to help alleviate quantitative and qualitative shortages of skilled manpower at mid-career level, in the context of capacity building within the framework of poverty reduction in developing countries’ (Tender Document, p.40).

The NFP specifically aims to address the needs for training in the short-term, focusing on capacity building in a broad spectrum of governmental, private and non-governmental organizations (educational institutes, planning institutes, ministries, private companies, etc.) (Policy framework 2001). The need for training has to be evident within the context of an organization. This implicates that applicants have to be nominated by their employers. By addressing these shortages, the Programme is expected to contribute to qualitatively better functioning organizations, companies, etc. and thereby aims to give a qualitative impulse to society.

2.2.2 NFP Modalities

Between 2002 and 2010 the NFP consisted of six modalities: Master Courses, PhD Courses, Short Courses, Refresher Courses, Tailor-Made Training and Multi-Year Agreements. Since 2008, with the start of the renewed NFP, Tailor-Made Training and Multi-Year Agreements were no longer part of NFP. Aside from the fellowships also limited budget was available for subsidising alumni

activities. Box 2.1 gives an overview of the NFP modalities and some other key activities.

Box 2.1NFP modalities6

Fellowships:

 Short courses: These courses vary from two weeks to twelve months and are offered by Dutch education institutes and comprise of professional training at post-secondary level in several fields of study. The fellowship holders can either earn a Dutch certificate or a diploma. The grant is awarded to the Dutch institution which makes logistical arrangements and pays the fellowship holders;

 Master’s degree programmes: There is a selected number of master’s degree programmes at Dutch higher education institutions which can be pursued. The duration of the programmes varies between 9 and 24 months. Nuffic awards the grant covering the fellowship holders’ costs, including the tuition 6 _{Nuffic 2010, Brochure on The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes 2011-2012.}

30 Evaluation of the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) 2002 - 2010

fees, to the Dutch institution. By participating, the fellowship holders can earn one of the Dutch degrees: Master of Arts, Master of Science or a Professional Master’s degree;

 PhD studies: PhD degrees can be pursued at 21 Dutch universities and institutes for international education. The research proposal should be agreed with one of these Dutch institutions. Still, a large portion of the PhD research takes place in the home country of the fellow. The maximum duration of this fellowship is four year with a maximum budget of € 85,000 (€ 74,000 till 2008). The grant is awarded to the Dutch institution which pays the fellowship holder monthly allowances;

 Tailor made courses were designed to meet specific needs identified by a requesting organization. These trainings were of a brief duration (between one and nine months), did not lead to a formal degree or diploma and took place either in the Netherlands or in the south.

Subsidies for Alumni activities:

 Refresher courses: The aim of refresher courses is to contribute to institutional development of the employing organizations of NFP alumni and to increase the impact and prolong the effect of the earlier training funded by NFP. The duration of the courses is approximately 2 weeks. The course can be provided by the Dutch institution that provided the original course but also by another Dutch institute, as long as this institute is qualified in the field of expertise. The course has a maximum number of participants of 20. Next to NFP alumni, these groups can also include, to a limited extent, colleagues of NFP alumni or staff members of partner institutes in the NFP country;

 NAA start-up subsidies: A potential Netherlands Alumni Association in an NFP country can apply for a start-up subsidy. These subsidies are maximized at € 3,000. The subsidy should be used to create the infrastructure necessary and to guarantee basic conditions which are needed for a successful start;

 Co-financing of alumni activities: A Netherlands Alumni Association in an NFP country can apply for co-financing of its activities. The maximum co-financing subsidy is €5,000. Another requirement is that at least 25 per cent of the budget must have another source.

Aside from these fellowship modalities and alumni activities the NFP made use of Multi Year Agreements (MYA’s). A Multi Year Agreement is an agreement based on a multi-year training programme between Nuffic and a local organization. It aims to help the selected organizations to solve their staff development needs on a more structured basis. A Multi Year Agreement could have consisted of a mixture of the different modalities. A pilot of this modality started in 2003 in 10 countries and by the end of 2005 it was implemented in 8 countries through 18 multi-year

agreements.

Relation NFP – NPT/NICHE

Alongside the introduction of the NFP in 2002 the Netherlands Programme for Institutional Strengthening of Post-Secondary Education and Training Capacity (NPT) was introduced. In 2009 the NPT was renamed into NICHE. For the sake of clarity we briefly give the main differences between the two programmes.

 Whereas the NPT aims to strengthen sustainably post-secondary education and training capacity in developing countries, so as to give them a better chance of generating their own training institutes and manpower in the longer term, the NFP programmes aim to cater for short term training needs and are geared to building capacity in a broad range of governmental, private and non-governmental organisations;

 And whereas the NFP only allows for individual fellowships, NPT/NICHE is more oriented towards institutional cooperation in post-secondary education, although also individual fellowships may be part of the cooperation agreements;

 Another important difference is that whereas for the NFP programmes applicants from 61 countries are eligible for training and education, NPT/NICHE is restricted to a selection of 14 countries.

In 2008 it was decided to transfer the Tailor Made Training (TMT) from the NFP programme to the NPT programme, where it was thought to be of a more coherent and strategic role with other instruments of capacity building.

2.2.3 Geographical scope

Between 2002 and 2010 the number of eligible countries varied between 57 (in 2002) and 60 (2010), in the meanwhile being expanded with four fragile states (Burundi, Congo, Sudan, Kosovo). In 2010 the NFP eligible countries were:

 Sub-Saharan Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. In Africa also Egypt is included;

 Latin American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru. In South America also Surinam is included;

 Asian countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Bhutan Cambodia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Yemen;

 Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova.

2.2.4 Target groups

The target group of NFP consists of mid-career professionals (with at least three years work experience) living and working in and originating from one of the 60 countries on the NFP country list (see above). Aim was to dedicate at least 50% of the number of fellowships to women, and 50% of the available budget on candidates from Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, it was decided that more fellowships should be awarded to candidates from deprived regions. The Netherlands Embassies were assigned with the task to formulate priority groups and sectors in the country.

2.2.5 NFP course list

The Netherlands Fellowship Programme is broad in scope. In total, each year fellowships are available for around 400 Master degree programmes and 200 Short Courses. In its setup the NFP is supposed to work by a demand-driven approach, reflecting the needs of an organisation or country7. From the interview with Nuffic it became clear that the NFP course list is based on information of the Dutch education institutes elaborating on the (assumed) relevance of their courses for developing countries, so not based on a comprehensive analysis of labour market needs Partly the demand driven approach for the NFP, is reflected in the budget distribution mechanism, in which account is taken of the total number of applications per modality, when distributing the NFP budget. The involvement of the employers is limited to a formal support letter.

7 _{Tender document Evaluation of the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) FEZ/IM-233/DSO.}

32 Evaluation of the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) 2002 - 2010

2.3 Implementation of NFP

2.3.1 Main stakeholders

The main stakeholders of the NFP and their formal position within the programme are as follows:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is involved with NFP both through the ministry itself as through the Netherlands embassies in the NFP eligible countries. The ministry is responsible for policy making, financing, supervision and external evaluations. The Netherlands embassies in the NFP countries assess all applications for fellowships and have the task to formulate priority groups and sectors in the country. The ministry also approves of the NFP course list that is provided by Nuffic.

Nuffic

Nuffic is responsible for NFP management, awarding fellowships, programme monitoring and reporting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, administration and accounting, and internal evaluation. Nuffic also compiles the NFP course list with courses for which NFP fellowships can be used. Nuffic guides the selection procedure and assesses proposals for refresher courses and PhD

applications. Nuffic also awards subsidies to alumni associations and NFP alumni activities to other Holland Alumni activities, largely funded by the ministry of Education.

Netherlands education and training providers

The Dutch institutions are responsible for the content and organization of the courses and programmes. They are also responsible for the administration and accounting of individual fellowships Moreover, the institutions assess whether applicants are qualified to participate in the programme. There are also some programmes on the NFP Course List that take place, fully or partly, in one of the NFP countries. These are joint or double degree programmes. The Dutch institution and its partner institution are jointly responsible for the programme.

Local employers

All applications should be supported by the applicant’s employer to be eligible for NFP. With this requirement, it is believed that NFP will meet the training needs of the organisation the applicant is working for and therefore assures institutional development of the local organisations.

2.3.2 Selection of participants

During its existence the NFP experienced various changes in its selection procedures. Two main periods can be distinguished, namely the old selection procedure which lasted from 2003 till December 2010, and the new selection procedure which has been in use since February 2011. Figure 3.1 gives a graphic overview of the two procedures. Strictly speaking only the old selection procedure is part of this evaluation. However, since the evaluation also will show lessons learned, it is evident that the new selection procedure also needs to be taken into account.

Old selection procedure (until January 2011)8:

 Students ask for admission to a Dutch higher education institution. Students receive a letter from the institution if they have admission;

 The applicant applies for a fellowship at the Dutch embassy. The application must contain several documents indicating:

a. Educational requirements;

8 _{Nuffic. (2010). The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) 2011-2012. Den Haag: Nuffic.}

b. Sufficient command of English;

c. A letter from the candidate’s employer confirming the candidate’s study plans and guaranteeing to continue to pay the candidate’s salary during the period of study; d. Copy of passport (and birth certificate).

 The Netherlands embassy checks eligibility criteria (Box 2.2). If the applicant is eligible for NFP, the embassy sends the application to Nuffic;

 Nuffic decides how many fellowships will be available for each programme, based on the number of applications per course per modality;

 The Dutch institutions select candidates that receive the fellowship based on academic skills; if there are more candidates than fellowships the Dutch institution can make their own selection of applicants using on their own (academic) selection criteria;

 Nuffic awards the fellowships to the Dutch institutions that pay the fellows the fellowships (monthly allowance, study material, et cetera).

Box 2.2Eligibility for master’s degree programmes9:

If a person wants to apply for an NFP fellowship for a master’s degree programme (s)he must:  be a mid-career professional with at least three years' work experience;

 be a national of, and working and living in one of the developing countries on the NFP country list valid at the time of application;

 be nominated by your employer, who pledges to continue paying your salary and guarantees that you will be able to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of your fellowship period;

 have been unconditionally admitted by a Dutch institution to one of the Master’s Degree Programmes on the course list. This means that you must have met all the requirements set by the Dutch institution;

 not already have received an NFP master’s degree fellowship;

 not be employed by:

o a multinational corporation (e.g. Shell, Unilever);

o a large national and/or commercial organisation;

o a bilateral donor organisation (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, BuZa, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid);

o a multilateral donor organisation, (e.g. a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB);

o an international NGO (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care).

 have completed and submitted an NFP master’s degree programme application, including all the required documentation, before the fellowship application deadline;

 be employed in an area to which the study will make a relevant contribution;

 have a clear-cut, functional relationship with a relevant organization and be in a position to introduce the newly acquired skills and knowledge into that organization;

 be available for the entire period of the programme and be physically and mentally able to take part in the entire programme;

 endorse the objective and the aim of the NFP. The aim of the NFP cannot be reached if you do not return to your own country. Nuffic would like to urge you to return to your home country upon finishing the course or programme to meet the NFP aim in the most effective way.

9 _{Similar but slightly different conditions for Short courses and PhD studies can be found on the Nuffic website.}

34 Evaluation of the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP) 2002 - 2010

Figure 2.1Old (until January 2011) and new selection procedure (February 2011-current) of the NFP

Source: NFP brochure 2011/2012.

New selection procedure (from February 2011 – current):10

1. Students ask for admission to a Dutch higher education institution. Students receive a letter from the institution if they have admission:

- The applicant has to submit a digital application through SOL (Scholarship OnLine), in some cases hard-copy applications are accepted (which are entered in SOL by Nuffic). The application contains:

a A digital application or paper application form;

b A letter from the candidate’s employer confirming the candidate’s study plans and guaranteeing to continue to pay the candidate’s salary during the period of study; c Copy of passport.

- The Dutch institution indicates (in SOL) whether applicant has admission to the institution; 10 _{Nuffic. (2010). The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) 2011-2012. Den Haag: Nuffic.}

- The Netherlands embassy checks eligibility criteria (Box 2.2) and indicates in SOL whether applicant is eligible for NFP;

- Nuffic determines the budget per country based on the number of eligible applications per country and the NFP results in the past year:

d Dutch institutions score application by looking at academic skills;

e Netherlands embassy scores application by looking at relevance for the development of the employing organization and/or country.

- Fellowships are awarded to applicants with highest combined scores until budget is exhausted;

- When awarding fellowships it is conditioned that 50% of the budget should go to Sub- Saharan Africa and also 50% of the fellowships should go to female candidates; - Nuffic awards the fellowships to the Dutch institutions that pay the fellowship holders the

fellowships (monthly allowances, study materials et cetera).

Differences between old and new selection procedure

With the new selection procedure:

 The application goes directly to Nuffic instead of the Netherlands embassy;  An online application tool (SOL) is introduced;

 The embassy has a greater influence: it can determine priority groups and it scores the applications based on relevance for the development of the organization or country;

 The HE institutions no longer select the candidates that receive the fellowship. Fellowships are awarded based on the highest combined score from the institution and the embassy.