WILLEMSTAD – The bilingual language development of primary school students in the Leeward Islands took center stage in the doctoral research conducted by Melissa van der Elst-Koeiman and Gil-Marie Mercelina. This past Friday, both newly minted PhDs paid a visit to Rector Magnificus Stella van Rijn of the University of Curaçao (UoC), where they personally presented their dissertations. 

The research focused on reading comprehension in both Dutch and Papiamentu among children in lower and upper primary school grades on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao — a key skill that strongly predicts academic success. 

Gil-Marie Mercelina concentrated her study on students in the lower grades, while Melissa van der Elst-Koeiman focused on the upper grades. Over a period of three years, students across the three islands were monitored and tested, with special attention given to differences in language performance between children who learned to read first in Papiamentu and those who started with Dutch. 

The results of this longitudinal study were compiled into dissertations successfully defended in 2024 and 2025 at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Several individual chapters had previously been published in peer-reviewed international scientific journals. 

This research project was made possible through a joint funding application submitted by the General Faculty of the University of Curaçao and the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University to the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). 

As part of a joint doctorate program, both researchers are now officially recognized as PhD graduates from both universities, a distinction also reflected on their diplomas. 

This study marks a significant step in understanding how early bilingual education in the Dutch Caribbean influences student achievement — and offers valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and curriculum developers across the region.