The Netherlands offers a truly international study environment
If the pursuit of academic excellence for your future career
is not your only reasons for wanting to study abroad, then Europe must be your choice.
Studying in Europe allows foreign students to gain international experience thanks to its strategic location. When you have some days off from lectures, for instance, you can easily and quickly travel to neighboring countries that have different languages and cultures.
However, there are only a few European countries that can offer high quality education and research together with a truly international study environment. One of these countries is the Netherlands.
The Netherlands has centuries-old academic traditions that contributes to the high quality of its education. Dutch scholars' devotion to scientific research, for instance, has earned the Netherlands at least 17 prestigious Nobel Prizes, including those in the fields of astrology, chemistry, economics and physics.
For Indonesian students, the long historical links between the Netherlands and Indonesia brings many benefits. "The Netherlands' long-standing educational cooperation with Indonesia has meant that many study programs available in the Netherlands are well suited to Indonesians' needs and interests," Ad de Leeuw, director of the Netherlands Education Center (NEC), says.
Even though Dutch is the official language of the Netherlands, there are 1,150 study programs conducted in English for bachelors', masters', and doctoral degrees, and well as short courses.
"Dutch proficiency is by no means a prerequisite for entering a college in the Netherlands. English is very widely used in the country, with most of the population speaking and reading it," Leeuw adds.
As English is not the first language of the Netherlands or of Indonesia, it is actually easier for Dutch and Indonesians to communicate because the English they use in conversation is often much simpler and easier to understand, and they are free from possible communication problems arising from the use of 'strange' accents or 'difficult' words used by native speakers, he noted.
The Netherlands has two main types of regular higher education: university education, known in Dutch as universiteit, and universities of professional education known as hogescholen. Universiteit trains students to become scientists and scholars. The Netherlands has 14 universities of this type.
Universities of professional education prepare students directly for a specific career. The country has now more than 60 such higher education institutions. All these institutions offer a large number of courses in English at various levels.
Universities in the Netherlands adopt a teaching style that can be described as being "student-centered", providing students with the attention and freedom they need to develop their own opinions and creativity for applying the new knowledge they acquire.
The Netherlands has also received international acclaim for its ground-breaking Problem-Based Learning (PBL) system, which trains students to analyze and solve practical problems independently through an emphasis on self-study and self- discipline.
Despite the high quality education that is provided, tuition fees are relatively low compared to most English-speaking countries thanks to generous subsidies from the Dutch government that in many cases still benefit international students.
Tuition fees for international programs for master degrees range from 5,000 euro and 10,000 euro a year, but with an 80 percent subsidy provided by the Dutch government, tuition fees are only between 1,500 euro and 4,000 euro. These relatively low tuition fees can still be enjoyed by university students for the 2005 academic year.
Foreign students also get additional benefits, such as a moderate cost of living. In the Netherlands, a student can live on as little as 650 euro per month, which includes accommodation, daily allowances, local transport, health insurance and books.
On free days, students can spend their leisure time by traveling to different countries such as Paris, London or Berlin. Or alternatively, students can also spend their free time working at part-time jobs.
In the Netherlands, students are also allowed to work for a maximum 10 hours a week, except in June, July and August when they can work full-time.
The Netherlands has issued a new policy allowing foreign graduates to extend their stay in the Netherlands for six months to seek a job in the country. "If within six month the graduates can successfully find a job, then they will be allowed to apply for stay permit. Otherwise, they must return to their country," Leeuw says.
Through the NEC, the Dutch government offers talented Indonesian professionals full scholarships for post-graduate studies. Scholarship programs available for Indonesian students include the StuNed Scholarship Program and the Netherlands
Fellowship Program (NFP)
The StuNed Scholarship Program aims to contribute to the development of Indonesia through the strengthening of the human resources of Indonesian organizations.
Indonesian professionals can take up StuNed Scholarship following Master's programs, provided that they meet requirements, including being able to provide evidence of academic achievement with minimum G.P.A of 2.75, having relevant work experience for at least two years, and a TOEFL of minimum 550 or IELTS 6.0.
Whilst being offered to the public, StuNed gives priority to placing government officials, university lecturers, officials from non-governmental organizations, and journalists.
Graduates are expected to commit themselves to return to Indonesia immediately after graduation and to be actively involved in the development of their organizations and Indonesia in general.
The number of Indonesian students studying in the Netherlands has been increasing steadily over the last years. At present there are around 2.500 Indonesians studying in the Netherlands.
Some 160 of them are receiving a full scholarship from the Dutch Government, the others are self paying students of which many have received partial scholarship.
With such high quality in education and research, truly international study environment, scholarship programs, and with the opportunity to experience the cultural richness of a variety of European countries, the Netherlands is without doubt a top study destination
Holland Education Fair (IN BOX)
Representatives of at least 25 higher education institutions from the Netherlands will soon hold a series of exhibitions in several Indonesian cities to give important information about study opportunities in Holland.
The Holland Education Fair, organized by the Netherlands Education Center (NEC), will be held in Surabaya on Jan. 29, 2005, and in Yogyakarta on Jan. 31, Semarang on Feb. 1, Bandung on Feb.3 and Jakarta on Feb. 5.
The event will also be a good chance for Indonesians interested in pursuing their study in Holland to consult with representatives of the respective educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the NEC is currently holding a road show in 29 Indonesian cities to find Indonesians eligible for obtaining the StuNed scholarship for masters courses, tailored-made training courses and short programs. The road show started earlier this month and will run through Feb. 6, 2005.
At least 200 Indonesians, including government officials, lecturers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) officials and journalists, will be eligible for the scholarship, said NEC's director Ad de Leeuw.
The closing date for scholarship registration will be on April 1, 2005.