Caribbean education insufficiently aligned with higher education in the Netherlands

Students from the Caribbean islands regularly come to the Netherlands to study at universities. However, education on the islands does not prepare them sufficiently for this, warns the Education Council.

Since 2010, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba have been special municipalities of the Netherlands; as a result, they also fall under the Dutch education system. Because there are few opportunities for higher education on the islands, students often move to the Netherlands to study.

However, education on the islands does not prepare them adequately for that transition, the Education Council writes in a new report. Language proficiency in particular is a major challenge: a good command of Dutch is important for pupils who want to study in the Netherlands. But those who go to another Caribbean island or to the United States instead need to be proficient in Papiamento or English.

Specific vulnerabilities

The islands have specific vulnerabilities, the authors of the report write: the schools are small, located far from the (European) Netherlands and do not have the same access to resources and support. As a result, they are not always sufficiently equipped to prepare pupils for further study.

And this has consequences: around a quarter of young people from the Caribbean Netherlands who go on to study in the European Netherlands drop out early, mainly due to language problems.

Differentiation

The Education Council therefore calls on the Minister of Education, Culture and Science to improve education. It is important that this is done in a way that suits the specific situation of the islands. Applying the same rules across the whole of the Netherlands sounds fair, but in practice leads to unequal outcomes. It is therefore ‘necessary to differentiate more in approach’.

Among other things, the council advocates additional investment in Dutch language teachers on the islands. Schools could also offer supplementary Dutch lessons to pupils who plan to study in the Netherlands.