Toespraak Knapen tijdens Shaping the Future

Toespraak | 02-07-2012

Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen,

You have just seen how we used educational projects to tackle the water problem in Benin. In May I visited Bangladesh. From the air I could see just how much of the country is water. The junction of three major rivers in the middle of the country has created an enormous delta. Thanks to all this water, the country is blessed with fertile soil. But like in Benin, there are risks attached to water: Bangladesh suffers more than its share of natural disasters. After heavy rainfall, the rivers flood, sweeping homes and livelihoods away.

The Bangladeshi government is now seeking a permanent solution. It proposes a major delta project to keep its people safe from flooding. You will understand that this is not going to be easy. It is a long-term project that will have enormous impact on people and nature. Specialist knowledge and expertise will be crucial to its success.
Like many developing countries, however, Bangladesh has a shortage of highly qualified professionals. There are too few experts in water management, too few civil engineers, too few agricultural scientists. Solving this problem requires, first and foremost, good higher and vocational education.

I know what you are thinking: education is no longer one of my policy priorities. And you are right. Yet here I am today to talk about NFP and NICHE, two programmes supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote development through education. Allow me to explain.

Basic education is not a unique selling point of Dutch development cooperation. Food security, water, SRHR, and security and the rule of law are. In these policy areas, however, specialist knowledge makes all the difference. This is especially noticeable in, for instance, our close cooperation with private sector parties. They recognise the importance of knowledge and trained personnel for innovation and growth. So, improving food security and water management depends crucially on good higher and vocational education.

Through NFP and NICHE, we can tailor our support to higher education institutions to the priority areas of Dutch development policy. So that education – both university and vocational education – contributes to development. This is why we are taking a critical look, as in the evaluation we carried out, at the link between education and its practical application. This can be a problem in developing countries.

Education can only make a difference to development if the graduates leaving schools and universities meet labour market demand. What matters is that people learn a trade or profession and find work in that field. Because someone who has followed a couple of years of education but doesn’t find a job is a like a ticking time bomb. In that case knowledge of how to cultivate potatoes is just as important as knowledge of language. That is also the strength of practical education.

The key is to encourage students to choose a field of study that is relevant for their country’s development. So that, after graduation, they will find work in their chosen field and put their knowledge to practical use.

In this day and age, knowledge is more important than ever in the labour market. As I said: for growth, you need innovation. And for innovation, you need knowledge and research. Of course this has always been true. But the role of knowledge in development has become even more critical. India owes much of its growth to ICT. Asia took off thanks to its knowledge of high-tech. And Brazil prospers thanks to biotechnology. The knowledge economy has become a global concept.

A more international approach is key to a strong knowledge economy. Not only in developing countries, but here in the Netherlands, too. International exchanges also benefit Dutch universities and colleges. Through greater enrolment of students from all parts of the world, near and far. And through opportunities for Dutch researchers to participate in leading innovative projects.

The connections made through international exchanges are valuable for the future. The list of NFP alumni and their jobs certainly proves that point. It is a list of ministers, professors, ambassadors and senior officials at international organisations. They all studied in the Netherlands. And many of them now hold influential positions around the world. Together, they form an important network for the Netherlands, and with the Netherlands.

One of these alumni is Laurent Sedogo, Burkina Faso’s agriculture minister. He completed a PhD at the University of Twente and he values not just the knowledge that he acquired there, but the skills, too. Dutch higher education aims to cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving capacity. More so than in his home country. And these are skills that serve him well as government minister.

Another alumnus is Jimmy Arguello from Nicaragua. A farmer, he applied for a grant to complete a master’s programme at Wageningen University. In his application he said: ‘If we as producers do not take the initiative to look for new opportunities for our products, nobody else will.’ During his studies, he chose to specialise in innovative ways of storing harvested crops. He studied the effects of cold storage on the rotting process in bananas. And so he put his scientific knowledge to direct use.

This is how we can build knowledge and innovative capacity, while also improving education in developing countries. Although the belief in the power of education for development is not as absolute as it was 15 years ago, when Kofi Annan said: ‘education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.’ Now we take a more nuanced view. But nobody can deny that good quality centres of learning boost a country’s opportunities. Good universities reduce the brain drain – students who go abroad to study and don’t come back –and deliver a brain gain instead. Having your own colleges and universities also makes a country more independent.
In Mozambique, for instance, we helped the Eduardo Mondlane University to improve the match between students and the job market. We believe the Netherlands offers added value here because of our strong tradition of consultation between employers, educational institutions and education experts. We helped the University develop more practical agricultural study programmes. These included courses in business skills and work placements for students, so that graduates are better equipped to use their new knowledge and skills.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The good news is that, through NFP and NICHE, we contribute to many of these positive effects. Both programmes were recently evaluated and, as you know, the conclusions were largely positive. The programmes are rated highly by alumni; the quality of education is improving; and the educational institutions are definitely helping to meet development goals.

Think back for instance to the water problems of Bangladesh. Researchers at the Bangladeshi Institute of Technology followed an NFP course on using satellite images in land and water management. Satellite images can be used to accurately map flooded areas, but also to study crop growth. Professionals were able to apply their new knowledge immediately to help develop their country.

At this conference, we’ll be discussing how we can optimise the programmes for the future. I look forward to hearing your recommendations. Here are some ideas that could serve as starting points for discussion.

First, I’d like to link NFP and NICHE more closely with my policy priorities: water, food security, SRHR, and security and the rule of law. For instance requiring skills on public utilities, management and procurement. This means being more selective. Not making arbitrary decisions, but selecting projects because they respond to demand in developing countries and fit with the Netherlands. This is where our embassies will have a role to play. The end result: a more strategic contribution on our part, producing greater results.

I’m also open to innovative projects. You know where we can make a difference in knowledge and education in developing countries.

Our challenge for the future is to respond successfully to international developments in education. In the long term, how can we use our educational expertise and the specialist expertise of our institutions to help advance development? This question is one that, with your help, I hope I can answer soon.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let’s not forget that education is also an end in itself. A pathway to individual development. NFP and NICHE support the development of motivated professionals and at the same time have a broader impact. This is what makes these programmes worth keeping. And through them the Netherlands can continue to contribute to development issues such as the Delta plan in Bangladesh. A plan that will, in the long run, enable the population to enjoy the benefits of the delta – the fertile soil and bountiful crops – free of the fear of flooding.

Thank you.