Tuesday’s news that students from the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom intending to continue their education in the Netherlands will get a citizen service number BSN from April 1 when requesting study-financing was no doubt welcomed by those concerned, including parents. So far, applying for such was only possible once registered in a Dutch municipality upon arrival.
This led to an undesirable situation where several important matters could not be arranged for them until already far from home, often on their own for the first time. That is hardly conducive to a good and comfortable start, said to be essential for academic success.
While the number of high school graduates travelling to the Netherlands every summer has gradually decreased over the years in favour of the region or on-island options, it still regards a sizeable group. The practically guaranteed basic Dutch loan if accepted at recognised institutions of advanced learning no doubt plays a big role.
Hopefully this initiative will contribute to not just better results but also more coming back to their native island afterwards and assisting in its development. The same goes for attendance by the National Employment Service Center (NESC) at next week’s “Werken in de Caribbean” career fair in Amsterdam (see related story).
Complaining about not enough of our “best and brightest” returning is one thing, active encouragement to do to so and creating the necessary conditions quite another.
