From left: Richard Panneflek, St. Maarten Education Minister Rodolphe Samuel, Curaçao Education Minister Sithree van Heydoorn, Aruban Minister Endy Croes and Netherlands Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf welcomed the new structure of the Strategic Education Alliance (SEA) on November 6.
PHILIPSBURG–To increase the study success of Caribbean students, the Education Ministers of St. Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Netherlands have agreed to a new education programme, Strategic Education Alliance (SEA). This makes a Pre-Academic Year mandatory on the islands, provides kingdom scholarships and offers training courses that best match the labour market in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The education ministers of the four countries have been meeting since 2019 to jointly develop support programmes with concrete and structural measures so that more Caribbean students can complete their studies.
For St. Maarten, University of St. Martin rector Antonio Carmona Báez and Shermina Powell Richardson of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) were in the SEA steering group. Together with 10 other education directors and government officials from Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and the Netherlands, they took the lead in the process to improve the connection between education on the islands and higher education in the Netherlands, to give students from the islands the best chances for success.
The steering group “Study Success Caribbean Students” has become redundant effective November 6, 2023. On that date, the education ministers of St. Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the Netherlands officially welcomed the SEA programme and it has been embedded for the future. This means that a budget has been established to make the new measures financially possible.
The ministers have agreed to the revised budget within the allocated education budget for the period 2024-2026. This budget supports the six priorities of the SEA programme and provides for the organisation of a new working conference.
A working conference was held at University of Aruba in September 2022. There, the steering group delved into topics that can only be implemented jointly by the four countries, in addition to the improvements that the countries themselves have already made.
What is going well and what could be improved? That question has been central for the past 2.5 years. Education experts have delved into existing research, literature and practical experiences of professionals and especially the concrete experiences of students themselves. “We have started to discuss equally, openly and honestly with each other what the right way forward is,” the steering group said.
It was decided to bundle the group’s ambitions and activities under a new name: Strategic Education Alliance.
The basic principle of SEA is that students in secondary education on the islands are prepared for their subsequent study choice. “That demands a lot from the schools. They will need support in this over the next 5 years,” SEA said. “It is crucial to guide and support young people at an early stage in their (study) career and to start from their living environment. Consider modern materials such as apps and VR glasses, for example, to take a virtual look at a university in the region or the university or college in the Netherlands, but also up-to-date and attractive information materials.”
Deans network
The position of deans and mentors on the islands must be strengthened, SEA concludes. “This requires commitment from the institutions and governments of the islands. There is a need for structural knowledge-sharing and shared vision across the six islands. We are therefore setting up an island-wide dean network.”
Student tracking system
According to SEA, there is a need for a system to monitor student progress. A pilot has been started between an institution in the Caribbean and one in the Netherlands to find out how this student monitoring system can best be designed. “The goal is to decide by the end of 2023 how we will shape this for the entire kingdom,” SEA said.
Pre-academic year
The concept of the Academic Foundation Year/Pre-Academic Year will apply for the next five years. This means that after completing their secondary school education, students stay on their island for a year to prepare for the transition to higher education in the Netherlands. Three universities in the Caribbean offer a joint programme for this purpose.
In collaboration with Dutch colleges and universities, the three Caribbean universities have developed a programme that prepares students for higher education (academic skills) and for life (social-emotional skills) as a student abroad.
The Academic Foundation Year is made as attractive as possible for young people. “The financial threshold for the student to participate in the programme must therefore be low,” SEA said during the preparation. “Parts must be provided with such quality assurance that exemptions can be achieved in the Netherlands. This increases the confidence and attractiveness of such programmes for students. The Dutch institutions involved in SEA will consult with their colleagues about this.”
The aim is for the Academic Foundation Year to be a temporary provision that will be “superfluous” at some point after five years. “We assume that in the long term it will no longer be necessary due to measures taken in secondary education to optimise successful studying in further education, on the islands or elsewhere. That is why we will be working with this programme for the next five years,” SEA explained.
Kingdom scholarship
It was recognized that a student from the islands with an Erasmus scholarship could go to all European countries except the Netherlands. To rectify this situation, a pilot was proposed for a kingdom mobility programme (for exchange), following the Erasmus+ example (with the working title of the Sea+ programme). This should enable mobility in the kingdom at MBO, HBO and WO level, both between the islands and with the Netherlands.
The mobility is for exchange, internships, but also blended/virtual mobility and staff, and the grant amounts are comparable to the Erasmus programme, also taking into account students with fewer financial options.
It was established during the conference in 2022 that certain patterns in follow-up studies, such as the “self-evidence” of going to the Netherlands, can also be questioned. “Experience shows that studying elsewhere in the region, America or on the islands themselves could better suit the needs of students,” SEA concluded. “Unfamiliarity with these alternatives, as well as the wrong image of their value and quality, are to blame for this.”
Focus on labour market
Based on the strength of the Kingdom's joint Caribbean region, a joint strategic plan for higher and secondary education in the Caribbean is in the making. “To substantiate this strategic plan, there is a need for independent research into the integrated labour market of the islands jointly, focused on the current situation, but also focused on the future labour market,” said SEA, which wants to be able to make evidence-based decisions about the desirable training courses and where best to organise them.
It pointed out that Level 5 (the Associate Degree) is still unknown on a number of islands. “The strategic research can serve as an independent exploration of the need for this type of training,” said SEA, which announced that a first labour market survey will be ready at the end of 2023 so that an initial version of the strategic plan can be drawn up in 2024.
Centre of expertise
The implementation of the strategic plan requires support from a joint Knowledge and Expertise Centre to be established, SEA said. “The idea is to link this centre in a network structure to the knowledge infrastructure of the islands (universities and research institutions) and to choose a form in such a way that the six islands can contribute their quality. In any case, the task of this knowledge centre is to carry out the aforementioned labour market research, but also to maintain an overview of the existing educational offering and to advise on any discrepancies between the two.”
During the Four-Country Consultation in early November in Aruba, the four ministers agreed to continue the implementation of the three priorities Kingdom Scholarships, Pre-Academic Year in the Caribbean, and the analysis of the labour market in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The ministers have also agreed to the start of three follow-up priorities: Connection of secondary education to SEA activities with an emphasis on the role of deans and mentors, inventory of broadening memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with foreign institutions, and the Student Monitoring System.
The ministers asked the SEA advisory committee to provide advice on the two follow-up priorities: Connection of secondary education to SEA activities, with an emphasis on the role of deans and mentors, and the Student Monitoring System.
The ministers requested that the SEA programme team invest in strengthening a visible website to provide information to students and educational institutions.
For St. Maarten, Shermina Powell Richardson from the ECYS Ministry is a member of the Caribbean countries project group. This group is responsible for the implementation of the ambitious package of measures with the aim of offering young people from the islands a better perspective by making use of the power of the Kingdom.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/introduction-of-pre-academic-year-on-island-to-increase-study-success-of-students-abroad
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