General Introduction
1) Higher Education in The Netherlands:
Many of the Dutch educational institutes offer international study-programmes and courses, most of them conducted in English. Annually more than 5000 foreign students enroll in the 600 international courses. The curricula are intensive, at an advanced level, practically oriented and designed to meet the high expectations of students seeking specialised knowledge and skills. The courses alternate theory with practice in real or simulated situations. The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) offer possibilities of scholarships, called fellowships.
2) The NFP objectives and target group:
The NFP are financed from the Netherlands’government budget for Development Cooperation. The overall aim of the NFP is to help alleviate qualitative and quantitative shortages of skilled manpower and to do so within the framework of sustainable capacity-building directed towards reducing poverty in developing countries. More specifically, the NFP are focussed on meeting the need for further training and capacity-building in a wide range of governmental, private, semi- and non-governmental organisations.
The NFP target group consists of mid-career professionals, in general holders of a Bachelor’s Degree, who are already employed and who have built up at least two years of appropriate working experience. To be eligible for an NFP fellowship, candidates must be nominated by their employers.
Note: this Embassy gives preferential treatment to:
a) female applicants;
b) applicants who work up-country, i.e. outside the direct Kampala area;
c) applicants who are employed by organisations in one of the sectors or areas in which this Embassy is active: the Justice / Law / Order Sector, the Education Sector (with focus on UPE, Vocational Training, PTCs and UTCs), Human Rights, Anti Corruption, Local Government Sector, Private Sector Development and organisations that are actively involved in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Northern Uganda. In many organisations in the above sectors or areas an NFP Contact Person is ready to assist his / her direct colleagues in the NFP application procedure.
3) The NFP modalities are:
a) Master’s Degree
b) PhD
c) Short Courses
d) Tailor made Training
e) Refresher Courses
NFP Application Procedure in Uganda:
General:
Only Ugandan professionals who are holders of a bachelor's degree of a recognised university and who have at least 2 years of appropriate working experience after graduation are eligible.
The rules/regulations/requirements as written down in this procedure will prevail over any information, including deadlines, in the website of any NFP institute.
The application procedure, that normally starts and ends at this Embassy (except for applicants from organisations with an NFP Contact Person), is as follows :
Phase I : Inquiry :
1) You will have to come to the Fellowship Desk of this Embassy (open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 13.30 to 15.00 hours) in person. In order to make inquiries and ask for advise, you will have to produce a valid ID (in principle your passport), the original letter of appointment / employment contract of your present job and the originals of all your diplomas / degree certificates / transcripts (including O- and A-levels).
NOTE 1: photocopies of the documents mentioned above are no legal proof. Therefore they can not / will not be accepted;
NOTE 2: transcripts without degree certificates have no legal value: it is the combination that counts. If your degree certificate is not yet out, ask the administration of the faculty of your university for a written testimonial in lieu of the certificate.
2) The Fellowship Officer (FO) will give you the Infobulletin and the NFP 2008 brochure. Carefully read the Infobulletin and the introduction to the brochure as well as the chapters on programmes applicable to you (generally speaking the chapters on Master's Degree and Short Courses. The procedures for PhD and Tailor made Training are different);
NOTE: After having read this Infobulletin, you are considered to be aware of the rules, regulations and requirements of the procedure. Therefore, not following the correct procedure will automatically lead to your disqualification;
3) Choose one appropriate, relevant course of which you meet all the requirements.
NOTE: pay special attention to the deadlines for academic application of the NFP institute;
4) Write down the data of the chosen course and of the institute that provides the course;
5) Request the FO for an NFP follow-up form and fill in this form.
NOTE: If changes occur in your (personal) data, please inform the FO immediately about these changes;
6) Hand over the completed NFP follow-up form and the NFP brochure to the FO;
7) The FO will give you a reference number. Do not loose it!!! You will have to bring this reference number each time you will visit the Fellowship Desk.
Phase II : Academical Application :
a) Request the NFP institute (that provides the course you have chosen and of which you have written down the data) for more detailed information on the course and for an academic application form(some institutes call it admission form). You can do this by mail, telephone or fax. More efficient and faster: go to the website of the institute and download the information and the application form. If this does not work, send your request for information and for the application form to the e-mail address of the NFP institute.
b) After having received the information and the academic application form, fill in the form.
NOTE: some NFP institutes require/demand an application fee which in most cases is non-refundable. This is against the rules of NFP. Do not pay this money and return to the Fellowship Desk to report this to the Fellowship Officer who will take action. You will be given the opportunity to select from the brochure an alternative course at an other NFP institute;
c) Make as many copies of documents as required by the academic application procedure rules. Present yourself with the copies and their original documents at the Resource Room of the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The copies will be signed and stamped for verification.
NOTE 1: if one of the requirements is one or more passport photos, write your names and your Embassy reference number on the back;
NOTE 2: applicants for most courses at ITC should also add a stereoscopic eyetest for which a form is available at the Fellowship Desk. Ask for it!!!;
d) In spite of what the instructions on the academic application form may tell, you will have to bring the completed academic application form and the required and verified copies of documents to the Fellowship Desk. The opening hours for handing in these application sets are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 13.30 to 15.30 hours. The FO will send the set to the NFP institute of your choice by diplomatic mail. This is in your own interest because diplomatic mail is fast and secure;
e) The NFP institute will assess your application on academical terms and if found in line with the requirements of the course, you will be provisionally admitted to the course. The institute will inform you about the results of the academical assessment directly and / or through the FO. For applicants who have not been academically admitted the procedure is over. Applicants who have been admitted will proceed to Phase III of the procedure.
Phase III : Fellowship Application:
1) The academically admitted applicant will, after proper identification and on producing the original letter of provisional admission (photocopies as well as faxes or e-mails sent to the applicant are no legal proof and will not be accepted), receive the NFP application form, either for the Master's Degree programme or the Short Course programme. This second application concerns the financial part of the fellowship;
2) After you filled in the NFP form you will have to make a set of copies of required documents. Present yourself with the copies and their originals at the Resource Room of the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The copies will be signed and stamped for verification. Opening hours of the Fellowship Desk for handing in NFP application sets are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 13.30 to 15.30 hours. The FO will check the NFP application set and, if it is found complete and valid, will send the set to Nuffic by diplomatic mail;
NOTE: you are kindly requested to hand in your NFP application set as follows: no staples (except your passport photo in the left upper corner of the Nuffic form. On the back of the passport photo write your name and your Embassy reference number) / fill in your Embassy reference number on every page / photo copies of your official documents e.g. educational records should be stamped and signed by the Resource Room of the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs / the photocopies of your passport and birth certificate (if available) should be accompanied by the originals for verification by the FO / the order of the papers of the NFP application set should be as follows: Nuffic form (leave out page 6), original letter of academic admission, letter with employer’s statement, verified educational records, copy of your passport and copy of your birth certificate.
3) Nuffic re-checks the NFP application set and, after having found it complete and valid, will send the set to the NFP institute for final selection;
4) The NFP institute will inform the applicants of the results of the selection directly and / or through the FO. For applicants who have not been selected this application procedure has come to an end though some of you may be invited to re-apply the year after. Applicants who have been selected will proceed to Phase IV of the procedure.
NOTE: Do not inquire about the results of the selection by mail, telephone, e-mail or in person. If and when necessary the FO will contact you.
Phase IV : Final Procedure :
a) After having received the notification of selection from the NFP institute, the FO requests you to come to the Fellowship Desk to sign the Letter of Acceptance;
b) During this same meeting you will receive the visa application form to be filled in and handed in together with your passport and a recent passport photo with your name and Embassy reference number written on the back. Your passport should be valid until at least 6 months after completion of the course and subsequent return to Uganda. The FO may be able to assist you in case you will have to apply for a new passport well before the renewal time is due;
c) Now there will be a period of waiting : waiting for the visa authorisation by the Immigration Department in The Netherlands (for fellows of courses longer than 3 months), waiting for the visa to be issued and waiting for the ticket to arrive. In due time the FO will invite you for a briefing on (air)travel and Dutch culture as well as the handing over of the ticket and the passport with visa.
NOTE: Within two weeks after completion of the course and consequent return to Uganda, NFP alumni should come in person to the FO with some written feed back on the course. At the same time they can register for the NFP Alumni Association.
NFP Application Time Line for 2008 courses
- 3 September 2007: opening of the Fellowship Desk;
- 5 December 2007: last day to hand in Academic Application forms;
- 19 December 2007: closure of the Fellowship Desk for festive season;
- 14 January 2008: re-opening Fellowship Desk;
- 13 February 2008: last day to collect NFP Application forms;
- 5 March 2008: last day to hand in NFP Application forms. Closure of the Fellowship Desk;
- 1 September 2008: opening of the Fellowship Desk for 2009 courses.
NFP Alumni Association:
During many years Ugandans have been able to benefit from the NFP. It is estimated that about 1500 Ugandans have graduated at Dutch educational institutes. In 2002 the Ugandan NFP Alumni Association was established and to date more than 400 alumni, including Ugandans living e.g. in New Zealand, Yugoslavia and the UK, registered.
If you are an alumnus / alumna of the NFP you may pick up the registration form from the Embassy or request for it to be sent to you by email from: 
harry.abels@minbuza.nl
