PHILIPSBURG--The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS) is facing continued funding pressures in public education as student numbers decline while schools continue to require additional resources for materials, maintenance, transportation and student support.
During Parliament’s 2027 budget debate, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Melissa Gumbs, said the number of students in St. Maarten decreased by 913 between December 2020 and December 2025. Funding for school boards is calculated using student numbers recorded in the December preceding the academic year, meaning declining enrolment generally results in lower structural funding.
The ministry said the reduction in the overall subsidy budget primarily affects funding available for incidental subsidy requests, leaving limited or no financial flexibility to accommodate additional requests from funded school boards. At the same time, the budget for projects and activities increased from 7.8 million Caribbean guilders to Cg. 11.8 million.
Of that external funding, Cg. 1.6 million through Temporary Work Organisation “Tijdelijke Werkorganisatie” (TWO) is intended for activation of the Council of Education and Labour Market, the “Raad Onderwijs en Arbeidsmarkt” (ROA) and strengthening secondary vocational education. Another Cg. 2.8 million is earmarked for priority reforms within MECYS, including evaluation of learning environments, review and amendment of the Foundation Based Education (FBE) primary education curriculum, and evaluation of function books and compensation structures.
The ministry is also planning to strengthen its ability to measure student performance. The increased allocation for the Division of Examinations is not directly tied to improvements in literacy, numeracy, attendance or examination results, Gumbs explained, but is intended to strengthen and sustain assessment capacity and cover costs previously supported through World Bank NRPB funding.
In 2027, the ministry intends to administer three parallel assessments – Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) and national assessments for Groups 3, 5 and 7. The assessments are expected to provide more regular data on student performance, particularly in literacy and numeracy.
The increased examination allocation will also cover other assessment responsibilities, including Advance Secondary Vocational Education, “Secundaire Beroepsonderwijs (SBO) and the National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) screening. Attendance, however, is monitored separately and cannot be directly attributed to the increased examination allocation.
School transportation is another significant expenditure. The 2027 allocation is Cg. 3.9 million and covers operating costs of the current student transportation system, including payments to operators and continued technical support for the fleet-tracking system.
The broader school transportation budget is also increasing by more than 12%. Gumbs said the increase is intended to support the ministry's developing school transportation policy and improve control over spending.
School maintenance remains another pressure point. The proposed 2027 maintenance allocation for the seven public schools is Cg. 315,000, which the ministry acknowledges is insufficient to address the full backlog of repairs.
A public tender for structural assessments was in progress, with submissions scheduled to close on October 30, 2026. The first tender received no bids, resulting in an extension of the submission period. The three schools identified as having the most urgent outstanding needs are Marie Genevieve de Weever (MGDW) School, Ruby Labega Primary School (RLPS) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) School.
At MGDW, the issues identified include air-conditioning and electrical supply issues. RLPS requires roof repairs and upgrades, while MLK requires waterproofing and drainage work. RLPS roof repairs and upgrades are expected to be put out to public tender before the end of 2026.
The ministry also said tenders for school security and cleaning services covering 2026 to 2031 have closed and are being evaluated. New contracts are expected to begin on November 1, 2026, subject to completion of the evaluation and award process.
Public education has 43 budgeted vacancies for 2027, including 23 positions for the Educational Care Center (ECC), five educational assistants, four Dutch teachers, positions for Leonard Connor School (LCS), Prince William Alexander School (PWAS) and MGDW, as well as physical education instructors, student care coordinators, vocational teachers, three substitute teachers and three head-office positions. The ministry said the three substitute-teacher positions are intended to help reduce lost instructional time when teachers are absent.
The ECC is also being established to provide more comprehensive support for students whose behavioural challenges require additional intervention. The 2027 budget provides for 22 positions for the centre, together with a dedicated operational allocation. Five educational assistant vacancies are also budgeted for 2027.
Technical and vocational education faces its own funding pressures. Through TWO, the ministry plans to strengthen the connection between vocational education and the labour market, improve transitions from secondary vocational education pathways PSVE and VSBO, based on the Dutch educational model, into SBO and strengthen basic skills, practical skills and career guidance.
The ministry said technical and vocational education can be particularly expensive in areas such as mechanical, culinary and construction training because of the cost of supplies and equipment. Schools have been working with private-sector entities to secure discounts and donations, while the ministry said pooling resources could be considered in the future.
The decline in student numbers also affects vocational schools because structural funding is based on enrolment. The ministry said the reduction in overall subsidies primarily affects incidental funding rather than producing an automatic uniform reduction in structural funding for every school.
One of the clearest funding gaps involves school materials. The current school-material budget for all public schools is Cg. 282,000. DPE estimates that approximately Cg. 1.1 million to Cg. 1.4 million annually would be required to adequately meet public schools’ material needs.
Those shortages include textbooks, workbooks, teaching supplies and hands-on learning materials. At St. Maarten Vocational Training School (SMVTS), the needs extend to specialist equipment and consumables for areas including automotive, welding, music and business administration.
The material allocation for SMVTS was reduced from Cg. 50,000 in 2025 to Cg. 40,000 in 2026. Gumbs said the latter amount is sufficient to purchase equipment for approximately one department, leaving competing needs elsewhere.
MP Doran subsequently raised the issue in Parliament, saying he understood that more than Cg. 200,000 was available for school materials while approximately Cg.1.1 million was needed. He proposed creating an easier mechanism for businesses and residents to donate towards school needs and said he had encountered a school where more than 60% of a class reportedly lacked basic learning materials.
Gumbs said the ministry would not create an easier general donation mechanism, explaining that donations of equipment can create additional problems when the equipment does not meet school requirements.
She cited air-conditioning units as an example, saying many donated units do not match classroom requirements and that nearly every air-conditioning unit at SMVTS had burned out because it was attempting to cool rooms larger than the units were designed for.
She said the country had subsequently spent considerable money upgrading electrical systems to accommodate unsuitable donated equipment. Monetary donations can, however, be received by parent-teacher associations at public schools for activities and certain supplies.
The ministry is also looking at digital education. Plans for 2027 include upgrading educational technology at all seven public schools by replacing some older iPads with devices organised in one or two device carts per school.
The ministry is exploring leasing arrangements rather than purchasing devices outright and is also considering a pilot of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Personalised Path, aimed at addressing literacy and numeracy deficiencies identified through EGMA and EGRA results.
The proposed evaluation of the learning environment will cover physical facilities, digital access and learning materials, including classrooms, roofs, bathrooms, electrical systems, ventilation, air conditioning, internet connectivity, computers, textbooks, workbooks, furniture and specialist equipment. Gumbs said the ministry’s ability to address all of these needs in one year remains constrained by its budget ceiling and the country’s liquidity position.
