~ Says Education Minister ~
PHILIPSBURG--A group of 58 students is scheduled to depart St. Maarten on Sunday to pursue their tertiary studies in The Netherlands.
All the necessary arrangements for the students - including the arrangements for their tickets - have been finalised, Education Minister Silveria Jacobs told The Daily Herald on Friday. Students are set to depart at 12:30pm. Check-in time is 9:00am.
Of the 58 students scheduled to depart, 32 will be pursuing HBO/Bachelor's degree programmes, six WO Master's degree programmes and 20 MBO/Advanced Secondary Education programmes.
A press release issued on the matter stated that specifics such as tickets, decrees and start-up allowances for the students had been finalised.
While the process to compensate the travel agent for the payment of the students' tickets encountered a delay, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECSY) "was ultimately successful with enabling the facilitation of the students being able to travel to The Netherlands."
As for the delay in payments to the travel agent, the matter concerned payments that had been made to the travel agent beyond the agreed-on date.
The ministry became aware of this matter on Tuesday, "following which the Minister of Finance was immediately contacted and all efforts and resources were put in place to correct the situation."
Jacobs held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to ascertain why the final information session had been held prior to finalising the tickets, etc., and to ensure that all stakeholders were working together on the same page.
Jacobs told this newspaper that once in The Netherlands students would be sent off to the cities in which they would be studying, where they would be taken care of by St. Maarten representatives.
All appeals pertaining to studies in The Netherlands have been handled and others are still pending, the release stated. The ministry thanked the members of the appeals committee for their work and said they had been "sacrificing their personal time in the evening hours after work in order to fulfil this task."
Students have been advised to travel light, with only essential items, to avoid having overweight luggage while travelling. Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) is offering a special for students to mail boxes to The Netherlands. The special will run until August 28.
Domino's Pizza and United Telecommunications Services (UTS) have provided the students with bags and sweaters. Domino's Pizza also will be organising some special activities for students at the airport.
Once in The Netherlands Jacobs will meet with Minister Plenipotentiary Mathias Voges; St. Maarten Student Support Services S4; Anna Maria Andriol of Haagse Hogeschool on the subject of language development; and ROC Zwolle to explore the possibility of establishing of a cooperation agreement with the school.
She also will meet with the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science concerning a cooperation protocol, budget for studying in the region, establishing a career/study centre in St. Maarten, the quality of higher education, ministerial places and accreditation of University of St. Martin/Adult Education Programmes; Soualiga Foundation; and Netherlands Institute for Master's Education, among other meetings.
Jacobs met on Friday, July 20, with the Special Needs Education work group from within the ministry chaired by the head of Division Education Innovations (DEI). The workgroup gave an update on a plan of approach for the reform and upgrading of Special Needs education. The topics presented dealt with the background, principles and beliefs concerning Special Needs Education.
A new scope for special needs education and inclusive education, and the results of an audit carried out at the present Prins Willem-Alexander School also were presented. Areas for short term improvement were highlighted and decisions involving 'The Way Forward' were discussed.
These included a more global audit of special needs in all schools, classification of the types of special needs on the island, new busing arrangements for students of Prins Willem Alexander School, an awareness campaign concerning Special Needs Education, a Summit on Special Education, Implementation of a new plan for Special Needs Education and an upcoming course at USM for special needs education teachers.
The minister's itinerary was worked out by S4 and the Cabinets of the Minister and the Minister Plenipotentiary.
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