WILLEMSTAD - Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands and Sint Maarten want a kingdom grant to increase student exchange within the Kingdom. With financial support, young people from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom can more easily follow further education in the Netherlands. The kingdom grant is one of the intended measures to increase the study success of Caribbean students.
The ministers of education of the four countries expressed this intention during the annual Four-Country Consultation on Education, Culture and Science, which took place in Curaçao. Several studies have shown that many Caribbean students in secondary education in the Netherlands encounter additional barriers. The causes are both in preparatory education in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and in further education in the Netherlands.
Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf: “It is important that we offer the young people of the islands a better perspective by making use of the power of the Kingdom. That is why I am pleased that we are going to take concrete steps to increase the study success of students. I am convinced that we can really help them with this.”
Exchange
A student from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the special municipalities of Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius can now travel to all European countries, except the Netherlands, with an Erasmus+ grant. The four countries want to rectify this situation. Mutual temporary exchange leads to mutual understanding and appreciation. It has therefore been agreed to develop a new mobility program for students within the Kingdom, following the example of Erasmus+. The new kingdom grant should enable mobility at MBO, HBO and WO level, both between the islands themselves and with the Netherlands. This mobility also applies to internships. The aim is to make the scholarship amounts comparable to the Erasmus program, also taking into account students with fewer financial possibilities.
To prepare
For many Caribbean students, the transition to further education now appears to be (too) big. To better prepare them for a course at higher vocational education and university, the four countries want to combine existing initiatives for a pre-academic year and develop them further into a 'Caribbean academic orientation year'. This one-year preparatory program covers both academic skills and student life. The aim is for the three universities in the Caribbean to offer a joint program, were desired in collaboration with Dutch universities of applied sciences and universities. In the longer term, secondary education itself must be improved when it comes to the transition to further education.
Finally, the ministers have agreed that research will be carried out into improving the connection between education and the labor market. Secondary education in the Caribbean part of the kingdom is currently not in line with the labor market. In the coming period, the proposals will be worked out in more detail in coordination between all countries.