The joint study by Ombudsman Bureaus of the Netherlands, Curaçao and St. Maarten into the hardship of Dutch Caribbean students during and after their studies in the Netherlands (see related story) is a good idea. The impression exists that they are insufficiently informed on all that is involved.
There are also persistent complaints about the communication with Education Implementation Service DUO regarding their study financing. Some of that in past years had to do with increasingly unfavourable exchange rates of the Antillean guilder versus the euro, and daily use of the Dutch language rather than only learning such in the classroom is another common problem, but there is clearly more to it than that.
Apart from the relatively high number of dropouts it is a serious matter as well for those who do graduate and return to their island as young professionals to work for salaries often significantly lower than in the European part of the kingdom. The student loan repayments can be a real burden under these circumstances.
But the central question of what they can reasonably expect from the Dutch government also indicates that lot depends on own initiative. In any case, the stated intention is to improve their preparation, stay and aftercare.
And it is not just about assisting individuals who some might feel deserve no sympathy but simply need to apply themselves more. Ultimately the goal is to achieve better results, which – let’s face it – in terms of success rates have not been great over the years.
There are people who want to stop sending students to the Netherlands altogether and focus on the region, where affordability can play a role. However, as long as a considerable number of youngsters still head to the Netherlands every year, efforts to enhance the related investment’s value by getting more “bang for the buck” are certainly appreciated
