Today’s report that St. Maarten students at Dutch higher vocational education HBO institutions do relatively well is quite encouraging. After all, the public has been told for years that the average results of sending mostly high school graduates to the Netherlands to continue their learning has not been great.
That local students are in that respect outdoing those of Curaçao and Aruba where the Dutch language is more widely spoken makes it even noteworthier, although one should keep in mind that many courses are offered in English nowadays. Practical education is becoming increasingly important especially for a country with a service-oriented and therefore rather hands-on tourism economy, which is also why programmes such as those of National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) have grown in importance.
To be sure, no success rate figures on St. Maarteners at universities in the Netherlands were available, but three-quarters of Dutch Caribbean students currently end up in HBO programmes. The general dropout rate in both cases, a combination of prematurely ending and switching studies, is still relatively high among islanders, while the gap with European Dutch students seems to be widening and remains a point of concern.
Addressing this problem requires continuous efforts to prepare exam candidates for the road ahead, so they have a better idea of what to expect and are less likely to change their mind later. Some 10 per cent stopping their education altogether may not seem like much but is – nevertheless – a significant waste of resources.
Locally, several schools are resuming face-to-face instruction today, Monday, having submitted safety plans and inspection reports approved by the Inspection Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (EYCS). Not all were yet able do so and some examination classes cannot begin yet because of plans to do so later, while solutions were being sought with bus operators to fulfil student transport needs.
So, it is not going to be a completely smooth and unified return to what used to be “normal”, but that was foreseen under these unprecedented coronavirus-related circumstances. Proper and timely communicating with parents to keep them duly informed is key to prevent unnecessary confusion and anxiety at this already difficult time.
