In Hanoi, today February 9, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Joop Scheffers and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat signed a cooperation agreement on the implementation of the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) in Vietnam.

Approximate 18 million Euro will be made available through NICHE to strengthen Vietnam’s post-secondary education and training system in the coming four years.

NICHE is meant to support developing and improving curricula, strengthening quality assurance, and improving teaching methodologies and education materials. The program will focus on the areas of Vietnam’s higher education sector where there is a clear demand for specialized knowledge from the Netherlands, like agriculture, integrated water resource management and climate change.

Being a Delta country like Vietnam, the Dutch education sector has extensive knowledge in coastal zone management, dykes, urban planning, and in dealing with the impact of climate change. Other areas where the Dutch will support are maritime transport and logistics, health care and profession-oriented higher education. Core characteristic of the program is that capacity development is geared to the needs of the labor market.

The implementation of NICHE is part of a broader cooperation program between the Netherlands and Vietnam in the field of higher education. NICHE will be phased in gradually and replace the current Netherlands Program for the Institutional Strengthening of Post Secondary Education and Training Capacity (NPT).

Fellowships continue to be provided through the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP). The Netherlands Education Support Office (NESO) in Ho Chi Minh City will keep enhancing cooperation between higher education institutions in the Netherlands and Vietnam and counseling Vietnamese students who want to study in the Netherlands.

(Source: CPV)