WILLEMSTAD – The Curaçao government has amended its proposed legislation on special primary education to explicitly establish that the island’s compulsory education rules also apply to students enrolled in special primary education.
The change is included in the second memorandum of amendment to the proposed National Ordinance on Special Primary Education, which was submitted to the Curaçao Parliament on August 28.
One of the amendments concerns Article 66 of the bill and would modify the Curaçao Compulsory Education Ordinance of 2009.
According to the government’s explanation, the amendment is primarily technical in nature. Its purpose is to remove any possible uncertainty over whether children attending special primary education fall under the same compulsory education requirements as other school-age children.
The government says this was already the intention of the legislation but now wants that principle explicitly incorporated into the law.
The proposed National Ordinance on Special Primary Education is intended to establish a separate legal framework governing special primary education in Curaçao.
Another amendment concerns additional training for teachers working in special education.
The original bill referred to teachers receiving a diploma after completing an application course designed for special primary education. The government has now changed the terminology from “diploma” to “certificate.”
According to the explanatory notes, the change is intended to distinguish between a complete diploma-oriented educational program and an individual course or professional development module completed by someone who is already working in education.
Teachers successfully completing the additional special education course would therefore receive a certificate rather than a separate diploma.
The latest amendments form part of the ongoing parliamentary consideration of legislation intended to provide special primary education in Curaçao with its own statutory foundation.