~ Rhoda refutes statement as malicious ~
PHILIPSBURG--Deputy Prime Minister William Marlin said on Wednesday that an assessment of the Ministry of Education indicates that that approximately one million guilders in additional study financing was granted by the former UP-led government after it had become obvious that government had fallen.
Marlin said the initial number of 203 scholarships granted fell within the study financing budget and in fact was NAf. 300,000 under the budget.
"Then after the announcement that the government lost the majority, there was a speedy review and more study financing had been granted, seemingly more than normally, and this has created an over-run of the projected budget for study financing. I don't have the exact figures. The preliminary indications that the Minister of Education [Silveria Jacobs] has received show an overrun of NAf. 1 million," he said.
His statement was refuted immediately by former minister of education Rhoda Arrindell, who described it as "malicious and baseless." Arrindell said four or five additional young people at the most had been granted scholarships after she had announced that 203 had been given scholarships.
Arrindell explained that the documentation for those students had been put on hold pending some missing information. Once that information was submitted by the students, she said, Study Financing head Antonio Aventurin submitted their study financing requests for consideration.
"I don't know where he [Marlin, ed.] got that figure from, but if you calculate the amount of people who got it could never amount to one million," Arrindell said. The overall budget for study financing on the 2012 budget is NAf. 5.8 million.
Marlin said the overrun created a strain on the education budget and could have a wrong effect on the community. He said "I'm sure for obvious reasons some people were contacted and told, 'No problem, I signed off on it.' Now the incoming minister would have to be the bad person who is against granting study financing or against supporting young people by saying it has been denied.
"For political reasons the outgoing ministers did what they have done. Now the responsibility lies with the incoming ministers to address it without too much influence on the community and for sure the budget," Marlin said.
A total of 237 applications were submitted for the 2012-2013 academic year of which a total of 203, or 85 per cent, were granted. Out of this total number of successful applicants, 38 have been awarded scholarships to attend University of St. Martin (USM).
Of these, 16 who initially had applied to go elsewhere were referred to USM to start their studies. These students will have the possibility to transfer after two years to one of the institutions with which St. Maarten has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
A further breakdown of the scholarships shows that 88 were granted for Holland, 46 for the USA, 14 for Curaçao, six for Canada, five for Aruba and six for other islands in the region (including St. Croix, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica).
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