Dutch Ambassador to Korea Paul Menkveld inaugurated the launch of a $350,000 scholarship program that gives deserving local students a chance to study in Europe.

Menkveld, other officials from the Dutch Embassy and the Netherlands Education Support Office in Seoul celebrated the launch of the fourth Orange Tulip Scholarship program in a reception at the Press Center Building in downtown Seoul, Thursday.

The program has been sending Korean students to study in the Netherlands since the 2010-2011 academic year, and is part of the Netherlands Universities Forum on International Cooperation, which aims to prepare young people for a knowledge-based and globalized economy.

English is the main language used in the program’s courses.

Some 18 students have taken advantage of the program through the succeeding three academic years and 21 students are eligible to receive $350,000 worth of academic support in the coming 2013-2014 school year, said Eun-mi Postma, director of Nuffic-Neso, Holland’s education support office in Korea. 

“We are relatively new in the education market in Korea, but the scholarship is increasing in popularity,” said Postma.

The OTS program, one of many that Nuffic-Neso offers to Korean students to support study in the Netherlands, is sponsored by nine Dutch universities and brewery Heineken Korea. For more information about the OTS program and other academic opportunities for studying in Holland, see www.studyinholland.nl.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)