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WILLEMSTAD--Eighteen educational and knowledge institutions from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and the Netherlands will continue, build and intensify their joint efforts in the fields of education, research and science. For example, they want to pursue and develop joint educational programmes.
This special collaboration was highlighted during a recent knowledge mission led by caretaker Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science OCW Robbert Dijkgraaf in Curaçao.
“Together with my fellow ministers from the other three kingdom countries, we have worked hard in recent years to increase cooperation within the kingdom, successfully. For example, look at the Kingdom Scholarship for short-term student exchanges,” said the outgoing minister.
“We now move to the next phase. I am very happy with this initiative by the knowledge institutions. The baton can now be passed on in this beautiful way.”
Curaçao Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport OWCS Sithree van Heydoorn added: “Students from the Caribbean countries are even more central in this phase than before. I think that’s important. Working together on study success also means working together on the correct personal development of young people.”
“The joint knowledge institutions will explicitly include this training aspect in their new programmes. The initiative can therefore be fully appreciated and continue to count on our support, because the Caribbean countries benefit from young professionals who do well in life.”
The institutions offer the entire range of further education: MBO, HBO and WO. They want to work together on, among other things, developing joint education programmes such as a teacher training course.
It’s also about the exchange of students (with the help of the Kingdom Scholarship), joint practice-oriented or academic research and sharing information and educational resources, as well as the impact of the history of slavery on today’s education.
It has been agreed in a declaration of intent that there will be an administrative meeting to determine a work agenda, in which students and parties from the labour market are also included. By the end of this year the activities and forms of cooperation must be developed.
Individual institutions can of course also decide to work together, like the Universities of Aruba and Curaçao with The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University to start a part-time course in public administration. This must be done to strengthen the governing power on the islands.
The parties involved from Aruba are EPI, University of Aruba and IPA, from the Caribbean Netherlands SGB Bonaire, from Curaçao Nilda Pinto SBO and University of Curaçao Dr. Moises da Costa Gomez and from Sint Maarten University of St. Martin and National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA).
From the European Netherlands it concerns ROC Amsterdam, ROC Zadkine, Aeres, De Haagse University, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, NHL Stenden, Utrecht University, Maastricht University, KNAW and NWO.
