Dutch government grants scholarship to 39 Ghanaians

The Dutch government grants 39 Ghanaians scholarships to study in The Netherlands in various disciplines. 26 of the candidates will be pursuing master’s degree programs, while 13 of them will be pursuing short courses in the Netherlands, all through the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP). The successful completion of their study programme will help them to further develop and strengthen the organizations at which they work.

A pre-departure briefing for the 39 new students, who will be leaving to pursue their studies in the Netherlands in October, 2014, will be held at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This is an annual event organized by the Netherlands Alumni Association in Ghana (NAAG) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Accra.

NAAG wishes to invite all its members and previous students who have benefited from NUFFIC’s NFP program to contact NAAG. Previous students are invited to participate in this year’s annual pre departure briefing. The pre departure briefing is aimed at sensitizing the new students to living, schooling and legalization in the Netherlands.

From 2011 to 2013, the Dutch government has spent in total 5 million Euro (GHc 23 million) on NUFFIC NFP scholarships for Ghanaian students. The NFP is a scholarship programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The programme is for individuals and aims to help increase the supply of skilled labour in Ghana. Half of the available scholarships are allocated to women and candidates that live in disadvantaged regions.

Under the NUFFIC Tailor Made Training Program (TMT) for 2014 300,000 Euro (GHc 1,4 million) in grant has been awarded to the Ghana Nursing and Midwifery Council, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Development Student to address specific training needs of these organisations. 3

The Dutch government continues to support education in Ghana through these following programs:

Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) It is a scholarship programme for individuals and aims to help increase supply of skilled labour.

The Tailor Made Training (TMT) The TMT promotes capacity by providing training for professionals on the request of a specific organisation.

The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity Development in Higher Education (NICHE) Focus is on the countries and policy priorities identified in the Dutch bilateral cooperation programme. In line with the current development policy of the Netherlands, the programme focuses on two priorities:

Water & Sanitation
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)

Under the NICHE program, the following educational projects are currently underway in Ghana:

Strengthening the capacity of midwives and nurses at university level to improve the quality of health care in Northern Ghana

Improving innovative medical education and strengthening the management systems of TTH and affiliated hospitals

Up scaling and upgrading the training of nurses and midwives in Northern Ghana

Capacity Building of the Schools of Hygiene of Accra, Ho & Tamale

Strengthen the capacity of the University of Cape Coast to sustain provision of professional development support for Environmental Health and Sanitation professionals.