Participants in the BES(t) 4 Kids work meeting at Queen’s Gardens Resort and Spa in Saba.
SABA--Saba hosted a work meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to further prepare for the start of the BES(t) 4 Kids day care and after-school care program for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in January 2019.
Representatives of the Public Entities Bonaire, Statia and Saba; and of the Ministries of Education, Culture and Science OCW; Social Affairs and Employment SZW; and Public Health, Welfare and Sport VWS gathered at Queen’s Gardens Resort and Spa in The Bottom to continue preparations on a civil-service level in anticipation of the decision-taking by the Public Entities and the Dutch government.
A multi-annual plan is being drafted, which will include a general part that addresses the joint actions and the individual plans per island and describing the steps the Dutch government and the three Public Entities have to take in order to BES(t) 4 Kids.
It is a uniform plan, which will address the specific needs of the islands. “This is a joint exercise and we are equal partners in this programme,” said one of the participants in the two-day meeting.
During the meeting in Saba, the funding for BES(t) 4 Kids was also discussed. The Ministry of SZW is structurally making three million euros available for child care per 2019. These funds will be divided over the three islands.
This was the third work meeting to prepare the programme. The first took place in Bonaire in June 2018, followed by a second meeting in Statia in October 2018.
Stakeholders are being involved in the process and consultations have been held with the administrators of childcare, after-school care and education institutions on all three islands to receive feedback.
BES(t) 4 Kids is for children up to the age of twelve and over and involves day-care and after-school care and activities. Through the programme, governments aim to increase the quality of childcare, while keeping it financially affordable for all parents. A lot will be invested in the training of childcare workers, it was stated.
On the initiative of the Public Entity, Saba has made quite some progress where it comes to child care. The expansion of the day-care centre in The Bottom is currently in progress. Not only is the quality of child care improving, but the waiting list is also being reduced.
