Current state of affairs and developments in the NPT and NFP programmes
13 Aug 2007
The NPT and NFP programmes are funded by the Netherlands Minister for International Cooperation from the budget for development cooperation and are administered on his behalf by Nuffic. Much to our regret, Nuffic was informed by the Minister on 16 July 2007 to stop any activity that could lead towards any further or new financial commitment within the NPT and NFP programmes.
As we understand it, the Minister’s instruction was propelled by a desire to enable him to design a new framework for his international education policy.
Since we received the instruction, Nuffic has been working in close collaboration with the staff of the ministry to mitigate the consequences in either programme. However, as time has gone by, some consequences have become noticeable. For example, Nuffic is not able to issue results of tender evaluations or scholarship allocations, and we cannot award subsidies for new or extended projects. We are also not allowed to publish any new NPT or NFP project outlines, or the NFP course list 2008 – 2009. Hence, delays occur and we are running behind schedule in a number of areas. You may have experienced this already.
We have good hope that there will be a positive turn in the current situation in the short term. We will inform you of any appropriate developments or changes in the imposed moratorium. Until then, we have to ask for your kind understanding and patience.