Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Publication
final report 03/09
CONTENTS
/03/ Greeting from Ruth Haug, the NFP-board
Everything has to come to an end — even the Norad Fellowship Capacity development among universities in developing countries
Programme (NFP). The closure of the programme is the end of is indeed necessary, both to strengthen the quality of higher
an era for Norwegian support for higher education in the south. education and to give more students access to higher education.
New and better ways of providing support for higher education The situation in most developing countries is that students want
institutions in developing countries have been introduced, and to go to OECD countries for their degrees — national universities
these have gradually replaced the old fellowship programme. cannot compete for the best students in their home markets.
In addition, the quota programme has been established, which
distributes fellowships to Norwegian universities and university The quality gap between universities in developed and develop-
colleges in a cheaper and less bureaucratic way than under the ing countries appears to be increasing, and those who can afford
Norad fellowship programme. to or who win a fellowship prefer to go somewhere else. It is of
course of value for students to also study at universities other than
For those candidates who were lucky enough to get the opportunity their domestic ones, but the main driver for international studies
to go to Norway by winning a Norad fellowship, the programme was should not necessarily be that your national universities are below
a great success — the fellows did very well in Norway and most of standard. Developing as well as developed countries need strong
them returned to prosperous jobs in their home country or abroad. universities that can both educate tomorrow’s agents of change,
In addition to the Master degree, many of the fellows were able to and provide an independent and critical voice in society.
save money while studying in Norway and returned with a surplus
to invest.
So why not continue this mutual success? There are many answers
to this question. In my view, the main reason for closing down
the Norad Fellowship Programme was that rather than support-
ing individuals from developing countries who wanted to study in
Norway, as well as the Norwegian universities themselves, Norad
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead wanted to contribute
towards capacity development by directly supporting universities
in developing countries.
Bhattarai studied for a Master of Science in What was the most important knowledge you
Hydropower Development at NTNU in 2008, gained from your stay in Norway?
while Joshi followed a Master of Philosophy in
Health Sciences at the University of Bergen in Bhattarai: From the course, I learnt about inno-
2002. vative Norwegian technology that I am using
in my country for hydropower development.
Both work as academics in their home coun- Apart from that, the Norwegian culture and
try today. Bhattarai is Deputy Head of the its history of development from difficult times
Department of Civil Engineering at Tribhuvan to the present were important lessons for
University, while Joshi is Assistant Professor me. The punctual and hardworking nature of
of Community Medicine at Kathmandu Medical Norwegians has been a nice gift for me in my
College. own life. The knowledge of Norwegian history
is pushing me very much to develop my own
Pawan Kumar Bhattarai
How was it living in Norway? Where you home- country, which is going through a difficult time
sick? at the moment.
Bhattarai: Living in Norway was a wonderful Joshi: Knowledge in the field of my studies,
experience. The snowfall, skiing, nice shy research and publications. I also learnt about
people, late night parties in the midnight sun, life in Norway, and its culture and language.
reindeer meat etc. are unforgettable. I am really
thankful to the administrative staff at NTNU Has the Norwegian degree helped you in your
and my friends at Moholt for making my stay career?
wonderful. Homesick? No way... not at all...
Happiness
in Tanzania
Page 26
In 2002, Juliet Katoba was one of 104 accepted fellowship that I now have at the Johns Hopkins Leading wom
Page 28
en
students out of 1711 applicants to the Norad University. It put me in the limelight because
The history
of the NOR
Fellowship AD
Programme
Page 8
Fellowship Programme. In 2003, SIU inter not so many applicants had an education NORAD Prog
in Arts and ramme
Education
Cultural
viewed the 29-year old Zambian student about background similar to mine. So I was very com-
Page 36
Juliet Katob
her studies and future prospects. Katoba had petitive. I also made use of the education to a studies
for the future
Page 4 of Zambia
never been outside Africa before coming to get involved in teaching some courses at the
Norway. We met her in her flat in the Fantoft department of community health in Zambia.”
student village and came along to her con-
gregation during a Sunday service. She was a What was the most important knowledge you
devoted NFP student in international health at gained in Norway?
876
the University of Bergen.
ISSN 1503-2
No. P2
2004
T
husband and two children. She is finishing a have the necessary knowledge to help reverse
pre-doctorial fellowship in bioethics (research the HIV trend or maintain stability levels. It’s
ethics) at Johns Hopkins University. not very easy, but with concerted effort, it
can happen. I intend to work alongside other
How have you made use of the education you researchers currently involved in HIV research In
got in Bergen? work in Zambia and also collaborate with rese-
archers from developed countries, like Norway TER
“The education I got in Bergen was excellent. I or the US. Hopefully one day I can get funding NE
made use of the degree from Bergen to get the to do my own research.” “O
in K
A professor from the University of Bergen, who Secondly, it equipped me with more theoretical
happened to be my external examiner at the and methodological tools for research. After
MA programme at Addis Ababa University, I returned home, I was easily able to set up my
paved the way to apply for the Norad pro- own research and consultancy firm. Currently I
gramme. This man’s knowledge and theore get consultancy work from known world-class
tical sophistication further ignited my interest institutions like the World Bank, other known
Buli Edjeta Jobir to study in Norway. I am highly indebted to international NGOs and the government.
Leif Manger.
How was it living in Norway? Where you home-
What did you write your thesis about? sick?
How conflict among groups creates cultural Norway is a very interesting country to live and
boundaries. The title of the thesis is “Conflict study in. Firstly, its natural beauty is so capti-
and Boundary. The Case of the Karayu Oromo vating. It will endure in my memory throughout
and Afar in the Upper Awash Valley of Ethio- my life. Secondly, Norwegians are peace-loving,
pia”, from 2004. I was inspired by Professor decent, respectful and very loving. Thirdly, the
Gunnar Haaland and the famous Norwegian university was very clean and well structured,
social anthropologist Fredrik Barth’s theory a place where you can freely learn, ask and
of continuous identity formation and shift, to have access to everything. I really admired
which my thesis tried to give an additional case the friendliness of my professors. They were
study. friends, colleagues, teachers and advisors,
with whom you can get along with and socia-
Were you happy with the education in Norway? lise. Such behaviour was highly in contrast
Did it meet your expectations? with what I was used to in the university back
home.
I am very satisfied with my education in Norway.
The courses helped me to develop my theore- Yet one thing that needs improvement is that
tical understanding of social anthropology in students who come to Norway need to get
general and human ecology in particular. Norwegian language courses, like students
«
from other (European) countries do.
I came to understand that
stability, peace and democracy What was the most important knowledge you
are the basis of development, gained from your stay in Norway?
which my country badly needs.
I came to understand that stability, peace
and democracy are the basis of development,
Has the Norwegian degree helped you in your which my country badly needs.
career? If so, in what way?
3,0
200
2,5
150
2,0
1,5
100
1,0
50
0,5
0,0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Ethiopia Nepal
Uganda Bangladesh
Tanzania
Figur 2 The three Norwegian institutions with the largest Figur 5 Percentage of master theses submitted by gender
numbers of master theses completed 2003–2008
60 80
50 70
60
40
50
30
40
20
30
10 20
0 10
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
UMB 0
NTNU 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
UiO
Female
Male
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
0,0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
“They were simply outstanding students. was done from health administrators, mainly
Period,” says Professor Arild Angelsen. He was middle managers.
the co-ordinator of the NFP course Master of
Science in Development and Natural Resource Students in Mozambique developed an infor-
Economics at the Norwegian University of Life mation system in public health. What kind of
Sciences (UMB) in Ås. system is this?
“The NFP students were particularly good at “It is a system for health services — for exam-
quantitative subjects such as statistics and ple, how many children have been vaccinated,
microeconomics. On average, they got half a or how many have a HIV diagnosis. It is a tool
grade better than the Norwegians. With the which may be used by health administrators
Master thesis, their grades were at the same from a national level down to the local clinic.
level as the Norwegians’.” The system has been installed in Malawi and
South Africa, and is currently being adapted for
A few years ago, the university did a tracer implementation in Tanzania,” Kaasbøll says.
study of 50 of their previous NFP and Quota
students, and Angelsen says it showed that More intimate
the students had done really well. A few had The Associate Professor at the University of
stayed on in Norway—some because of love, Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU),
some who were seeking asylum—but the great Pål Skalle, was the co-ordinator of the NFP
Professor Arild Angelsen, majority went back to their home countries and Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering
the Norwegian University used their knowledge in good jobs. 10-15 went and Petroleum Geoscience.
of Life Sciences onto a PhD in Norway or elsewhere.
“It was a more intimate situation with the
Many applicants Norad students compared to Norwegian ones,
“The students were good, because we got a as they needed more follow-up and there were
«
lot of applicants and could choose the best
ones,” says Professor Jens Johan Kaasbøll at
On average, the NFP-students
the Department of Informatics at the University
got half a grade better
of Oslo (UiO).
than Norwegians.
Kaasbøll was involved in three different NFP
master’s degree programmes. Two of them
were located in South Africa and Mozambique, also more social activities. It has been very
while the third was a sandwich course which rewarding to be part of this,” Skalle says.
took place partly in Mozambique and partly at
the University of Oslo. Do you know how the students are doing
today?
“The reason we wanted to locate the degrees in
the African countries was to connect the acade- “I know that some of the Bangladeshi ones
mic activities to the students’ home countries got jobs in their home country and others have
and to relevant issues for that specific country. gone abroad to work or do a PhD. The petro-
This way, there would be greater incentives for leum industry in Bangladesh does not absorb
the students to stay in Africa,” Kaasbøll says. the freshly educated. They are so good, you
know, that they can easily get jobs abroad.”
The students on the Master in Information
Systems course were recruited from university Jens Johan Kaasbøll at UiO says that out of all
Professor Jens Johan Kaasbøll, employees, while recruitment for the Master the students that graduated from the three NFP
the University of Oslo of Public Health (Information Systems Track) master programmes in informatics, he only
«
just academic input. “They got new ideas, not
Many of the academic staff just academically. They saw that it is not so
at the universities of Mekelle hierarchical here, and they got to appreciate
and Hawassa in Ethiopia curious and critical thinking.”
got their education from UMB. Associate Professor Pål Skalle,
Today UMB offers a similar degree in natural
resource economics in the NOMA programme the Norwegian University of
city building. Many of the academic staff at the in collaboration with African institutions. The Science and Technology
universities of Mekelle and Hawassa in Ethiopia first year is spent in Uganda, Malawi or Ethio-
got their education from UMB,” Angelsen says. pia, while the second year takes place at UMB.
Professor Jens Johan Kaasbøll at UiO talks “I’m not sure we are able to achieve the same
about the new co-operation between African academic quality as in the NFP programme,
countries, which has evolved out of the NFP. in particular when it comes to thesis work. In
“The most interesting aspect was the possibi- the NOMA model, active researchers are also
lity we had over a long period of time to develop asked to be development workers with no
partnerships with not only our main partner compensation. Students find that lecturers at
institutions in Mozambique and South Africa, some universities in the South do not prioritise
but also with universities in Malawi, Tanzania teaching these courses, as they prefer to do
and Ethiopia. Over the years, this co-operation well-paid off-campus courses and consultancy
has become extensive. It has also led to co- work. Also, although we try hard, we no longer
operation between the African universities get the close integration between education,
in terms of research projects and exchanging research and institution building as we used
lecturers,” Kaasbøll says. to. The closing down of NFP was a political
decision that I regret.”
Academic ties
The NTNU now co-operates with the Bangladesh For petroleum studies at NTNU, the situation is
University of Engineering and Technology and different. “There has been a positive develop-
the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambi- ment with the NOMA programme. The co-
que on a Master of Science in the Petroleum operation with the institutions, especially in
Sector in Asia and Africa as part of the NOMA Bangladesh, has become more constructive,”
programme. The NTNU also co-operates with Associate Professor Pål Skalle says.
the Universidade Agostinho Neto in Angola on
a Master of Science in the same field. At the University of Oslo, the change from NFP
to NOMA has hardly been noticeable for the
Associate Professor Pål Skalle appreciates the NFP programmes run in Africa. “The sandwich
established academic ties with the three coun- course has been closed down, but for the other
tries, especially Bangladesh. “The environment courses, it is a mere continuation of what we
in Bangladesh is very good, they are very eager. were doing already. But the financial model has
The goals set by Norad were received with ent- become too short-term. We worked for eight
husiasm, and we have worked on involving the years in Mozambique, which was necessary to
sector, the vice chancellor and the employees build up the degree. A three-year horizon is not
at the institution by having yearly visits.” long enough,” Jens Johan Kaasbøll says.
Kristin Holst Paulsen points to the bookshelf in her office, filled were able to go where they wanted, and they had the freedom to
with Master’s degree dissertations. She is on the acknowledge- concentrate on their studies, away from family obligations,” she
ments list in tens of theses written by students from the Norad says.
Fellowship Programme.
Holst Paulsen says the NFP courses organised in the South have
“If there is one thing I miss in this position, it is the NFP and the shown that this model is not attractive for many students. For
students I met through the programme,” she says. example, Africans are less interested in studying in Nepal. Also,
there are fewer female applicants, as they often are not as free to
Good for women study in their home country.
Holst Paulsen is the administrative coordinator at Unifob Global, a
centre owned by the University of Bergen. For 10 years she was in Ask about everything
charge of the administration of the NFP, where students who came For ten years, Holst Paulsen did not take a summer vacation. She
to study at the University of Bergen. was too busy organising the arrival of new students. She arranged
visas, air tickets and all other non-academic issues related to their
“For the students, the NFP was a unique opportunity to go abroad. stay in Bergen. Many had never been outside their own country
It was also a big thing for them to meet so many international stu- before.
dents. Where else would a person from Nepal become friends with
somebody from Colombia?” Holst Paulsen asks, and continues: “I was in touch with the students through the whole summer. They
asked about everything between heaven and earth,” she says.
“It has been particularly good for women to come here. Here they
Norwegian benefits
“I have travelled to some of the countries the students come from
– just as they couldn’t believe some aspects of Norwegian culture
and habits, I sometimes thought the same about their culture: it
cannot be! I have learnt a lot myself.”
Holst Paulsen and the University of Bergen are benefitting from the
huge network of previous NFP students spread all over the world.
Now she is the one being picked up at the airport.
Approximately 6000 students from 50 countries received a fellowship School at the University of Oslo. Two years later, 90 students came
for higher education or training during the existence of the Norad Fel- to Norway. Four years later, the number was 200. In 1969, funds
lowship Programme (1962–2008). The NFP was unique in a develop- also included support for studies in the fellows’ home countries.
ment assistance perspective in that it was early to acknowledge the
importance of higher education for the development of nations. The 1970s
In the 1970s, focus of development assistance shifted towards
The 1960s commerce and industrial cooperation. Western countries’ research
The 1960s was known as “the decade of optimism” in Norway. results should not be transferred to developing countries indiscri-
With assistance from the Marshall plan, the country was rebuilt minately, and developing countries should focus on building insti-
after the Second World War. There was a dramatic increase in the tutions relevant to their needs.
number of students entering higher education, not least because In 1970, a committee was set up to consider how Norad should
of the initiation of the State Educational Loan Fund in 1947. best run the programme. The report from 1971 was normative for
In Africa, several colonies gained independence in the 1960s. the administration of the programme throughout its existence. The
The great majority of the population had little or no formal edu- requirements for the applicants remained almost unchanged: they
cation, and most countries had an inadequate education system. had to have relevant professional experience, provide confirmation
However, Uganda, Sudan, the Gold Coast and Nigeria established from their employer that the education was relevant and return to
universities soon after independence. their home country after finishing their degree in Norway.
More money was allocated in the 1970s both to courses in Nor-
First educational aid programme way as well as to education in the students’ home countries. In 1973,
The Norad Fellowship Programme, established in 1962, became 347 fellows were being educated in Norway, while 77 were supported
the first educational aid programme in Norway. That year, NOK in their home countries. In the second half of the 1970s and into the
275 000 or 3.7 per cent of the Norwegian budget for development 1980s, the annual number of students was approximately 400.
assistance, was spent on this educational programme.
The policy of the NFP in the 1960s was to offer training in fields The 1980s
where Norway had special competences – for example geology, pulp The 1980s was a decade with increased attention and support for
and paper technology, marine engineering, fisheries and shipping. developing countries. In Norway, the Ministry of Development Aid
Courses were designed especially for the Norad fellows in technical was established in 1984. In the first part of the 1980s, the NFP was
subjects, natural and social sciences and medicine/health. seen as an important part of Norway’s development assistance to
This was in line with the general view on development assis- poor countries.
tance in this decade: development would come through moder- However, in the second half of the 1980s, the NFP was eva-
nisation and economic growth. Lack of education was seen as a luated several times to see if the programme better could fit with
hindrance to economic development. the general aims of Norwegian development assistance. One result
The first 30 students came from India, Egypt and Thai- was that the number of eligible countries was reduced.
land. Most of them participated in the International Summer
From Diploma to Master’s
A report from 1988 concluded that the NFP contributed little to
systematic competence building and institutional development
in developing countries. The report concluded that none of the
Diploma courses offered were established on the basis of a known
need in the developing countries.
One advice was to change from Diploma to Master’s degree
programmes. The Diploma courses were thus slowly phased out or
made into 2-year Master’s degrees.
The results were fewer courses, fewer students and far less
political interest in the Norad Fellowship Programme in the final
years of the 1980s. The number of students dropped from appro-
ximately 400 enrolled students annually in the first half of the
1980s, to 113 in 1988, a level maintained through the rest of the
POPULAR IN NEPAL/ Norad students on the Master of Science in
programme’s existence.
Management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture
(MNRSA) course carrying out fieldwork in Nepal in 2003. The
MNRSA at the University of Life Sciences (UMB) was the most The 1990s
popular Master’s degree in the Norad Fellowship Programme, both Sustainable development and recipient responsibility were aspects
in terms of the number of applicants and the number of students. that were emphasised in the development theory of the 1990s. In
(Photo/ Teresa Grøtan) 1993, Norad stated that the main goal of the NFP was to contribute