By Roy Lie A Tjam.
H.E. Mr. Bruce Koloane, Ambassador of South Africa met with Mr. Thom de Graaf, President of the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. Mr. De Graaf is a former Cabinet Minister, Senator, and mayor.
The two gentlemen met February of this year at a function of the Royal Palace and decided to meet again in order to ascertain ways in which South-Africa and the Universities of Applied Sciences could cooperate.
The two decided to organize a luncheon at Restaurant Le Debut of the prestigious Hotel School at Scheveningen-Den Haag. Attendees were delegates from universities, Dutch Ministries, NUFFIC, Diplomat magazine and other organizations.
In their welcome address, Mr. De Graaf and Ambassador Koloane made reference to the longstanding historical ties that exist between the Netherlands and South-Africa. However, when it comes to higher education (both mobility and institutional partnerships), there are yet an array of opportunities to be explored. There are approximately 33,000 foreign students in the Netherlands, only 141 are South-Africans.
To date, south-Africa has no Universities of Applied Sciences.Dutch institutions could, therefore, assist with curriculum development and the providing of qualified lecturers. NUFFIC will expand her activities in South Africa. NUFFIC is often referred to as the educational umbilical cord between S.A. and the Netherlands. Regarding obtaining work permits for lecturers and other personnel, the NUFFIC example might be a good one to copy.
Ambassador Bruce Koloane mentioned the far-reaching operation to recondition the entire education system in South Africa taking place this very moment. There are certainly opportunities for Dutch universities and colleges that would like to intensify and or initiate their cooperation with, South Africa. Opportunities for cooperation will be further explored in the near future. In addition, Koloane invited stakeholders to come and sit together to identify the S.A. institutions eligible to participate in the Breda concept project. Furthermore, stakeholders will share the problems and obstacles they encounter in obtaining work permit a.o queries with the South-African Mission.
Other speeches and presentations at the luncheon, Avans institute contributes to a sustainability project, which includes the development of drone technology in the prevention of poaching in nature reserves in South Africa. Moreover, NHTV shed some light on activities taking place at the Center of Expertise Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality. Avans has a capacity building project, “Caso Symposium” in Capetown, that had been initiated in 2016 and is expected to be completed in 2018
Ms Elske van der Wal, lecturer at NHTV Breda, also delivered an expose. According to Van der Wal, ways should be considered as to how to implement the Breda concept in South-Africa. There will be a need of Africanizing the concept a bit. However, given Breda’s reputable credentials, this should not be a problem.
The successful event concluded with an exchange of gifts and a networking session
