Multicultural Schooling

The newly formed government ofPrime Minister Wim Kok has announced plans to cut the average university degree course from four years to three, tо the consternation of some who fear that students will lose their edge. But Dr. J. Wil Foppеn, dean of the presti­gious Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), believes that shorter undergraduate courses may well benefit Hol­land's top postgraduate business schools. "Peo­ple looking for a really good business education will increasingly be turn­ing to the specialist schools, and our position can only get stronger," he says. "We will, howev­er, have to ensure that an extra influx of Dutch students does not affect our international character."

RSM's focus on the role of information technology in business administration sets it apart from its competitors. But, like many Dutch business schools, RSM prides itself on the multicultural, interna­tional nature of both its student and teaching bodies. The school's 200 stu­dents are typically drawn from up to 40 different countries.

Webster University maintains one of its four European campuses in the western city of Leiden, offering American-style undergraduate programs and postgradu­ate MBA options in finance, international business, management or marketing.

The Maastricht School of Management (RVB/MSM), previously known as the Netherlands International Institute for Management, runs what it describes as a global multicampus program offering MBA programs in 12 different locations, including.Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Cairo, Cyprus and New Delhi.

The school is currently | talking with educational; institutions in Johannes-burg and Shenzhen in China about setting up new MBA programs, according to school director Dr M.S.S. Namaki. "We control the curriculum and study modules, and at least 50 percent of the teaching staff is employed by RVB/MSM," he ex­plains. "We now have more than 500 students worldwide, with a cur­riculum that reflects the global nature of our school."

The Netherlands Institute for MBA Studies (NIMBAS), based in the central city Of Utrecht, offers students the chance to acquire the U.K's highly regarded Brad­ford University MBA degree in programs it runs in Holland and in Essen, Germany.

"Our staff come from some 9 coun­tries, and our students from 28," says NIMBAS director Josephine Borchert-Ansinger. "We offer four different MBA programs, which can be completed in one or two years, as well as a range of programs for executives from companies like AT&T, Exxon Chemical, British Petroleum and Unilever."

NlMBAS's newest venture is a unique two-year, part-time European executive MBA program. "This is a modular MBA that runs in the Netherlands, the U.K., France and Germany," says Borchert- Ansinger. "Each module is a nine-day residential course, so executives will be away from their desks for only one working week at a time. It's probably the most flexible MBA program available in Europe."

Educational opportuni­ties in the Netherlands are a double draw for foreign businesses. The system turns out a top-notch work force and also provides a fair array of international and government-support­ed specialized schools serving foreign nationals, thereby eliminating a major hurdle in the relo­cating process for them and for their families.

Steve Boommark

/Newsweek, Nov. 21, 1994 /

Set Work

I. Transcribe and practice the pronunciation of the following geographical places:

a) The Netherlands, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Cairo, Cyprus, New Delhi.

(* Be ready to show them on the map)

b) Maastricht, Amsterdam, The Hague, Johannesburg, Shenzen, Leiden.

(*Say what you know about them)

II. Say how you understand:

To play host to sth/sb; quality schooling; high level of computer literacy and language ability; to be well geared to deal with the educational needs; to be tracked (about pupils); to follow an advanced course; to lose one's edge; multicultural nature of student and teaching bodies; to run a multicampus program; study modules; a double draw for sb; the relocating process.

In what connection were these lexical units used in the article?

III. Find out and give information about:

a) "English stream" schools, International Baccalaureate, acade­mic education, vocational education

b) expatriate, national, Briton

c) MBA, RVBIMSM, NIMBAS

d) AT&T, Exxon Chemical, British Petroleum and Unilever

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