Korea Student Fair
03 Nov 2008
Neso Korea hosted the visit of the Dutch institutions that participated in the Korean Student Fair (KSF) in Seoul (two days) and Busan (one day) at the beginning of October. The participants represented 14 Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. Study Amsterdam and STC-Korea participated in Busan as well.
The Dutch booths at the KSF did not draw as many Korean students as might have been expected, despite the fact that the design of the Holland Pavilion was particularly well chosen by Neso standards; however, Fair Coordinator Marijke van der Kleij cannot guarantee floods of interested students.
There is as yet insufficient familiarity with the Netherlands and Dutch higher education amongst Koreans. In addition, many students simply do not know that Dutch institutions offer courses in English. The KSF schedule of activities included a presentation on Study in Holland, which was attended by 15 to 20 students.
Fine-tuning
Following evaluation of the fair and of the lessons learned, Neso Korea will further fine-tune its strategy to promote the quality of Dutch higher education and consider which fairs may be useful for next year. Overall, the Dutch institutions were able to get a good taste of the Korean education market and set out their promotion strategies.
Since this was the first visit to Seoul for most participants, Neso decided to offer a programme to create a better understanding of Korean culture and its education system. A brief visit was organized to Yonsei University, one of the most international universities in Korea, together with a dinner buffet at the Ambassador’s residence.
Participants also had the opportunity to attend lectures at the Neso office, with lecturers including Professor Willy Linssen of Hanyang University, who is also the founder of Heartware Company, who shared his perspective on 16 years of living and working in Korea, and Professor Byun from Koryo University’s College of Education, who discussed current issues in Korean education and internationalization in higher education.
