Sundial Principal Mireille Regales observing the progress of the work at the school.
Wim de Visser
SOUTH REWARD–Milton Peters College (MPC) and Sundial School aim to build on the positive results of the last school year and enhance the quality of education in the coming academic year, which starts on Monday.
“Our major goal for upcoming school year is to have a relaxed hurricane- and disaster-free academic year where all our students can develop their talents to the best of their abilities,” MPC and Sundial General Director Wim de Visser told The Daily Herald. “Although we are very proud of the excellent exam results of last school year, we still work constantly to improve on the quality of education for our youngsters and to make sure that the exam results stay on the same high level.”
De Visser said MPC and Sundial School are comprehensive schools that aspire to be the schools of choice for every student and parent in St. Maarten. “That is why we offer academic curricula in both Dutch and English. Now more than ever, we need to make sure that continuance of study in the region is very important for the future developments of the country.”
De Visser said the schools expect to achieve their goals in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS), National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA), University of St. Martin (USM) and other institutions to offer this possibility.
MPC
At the Caribbean Examinations Council CXC level, MPC will be entering its third year of the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) programme. This means that this will be the final year for students before entering the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) programme. This academic year students will have the exams for CCSLC.
“Our goal is to prepare our students thoroughly and make sure that most of these students can continue the CSEC programme. All the CXC programmes are in English. So MPC has now the full potential for students and their parents to choose for either a Dutch academic programme or an English academic programme,” De Visser said.
At the PKL/PBL level, MPC is preparing new pre-vocational programmes for its technical science sector. The school is especially preparing an automotive programme. The school also hopes and expects to be in close collaboration with NIPA to ensure that its students, after graduating, can continue their studies at that institution.
In all departments, MPC will continue its way forward in digital teaching and learning.
“This academic year three groups of students together with the teaching staff will learn by using Chromebook computers and the Internet. Thanks to the St. Maarten Foresee Foundation and the Windsong Foundation, MPC can start an ambitious programme where digital teaching and learning is just a very powerful tool to enhance the quality of education.
“In the end it must come from the capabilities of the students themselves to excel. However, with this modern technology, we expect more intrinsic motivation from the students, as that is the modern world of communication and social media nowadays.”
Rebuilding
As it relates to the school structure, MPC hopes that more constructive restoration can be done. Amongst other things, one of the school’s gym halls collapsed during Hurricane Irma and should be rebuilt or reused as a new facility for self-study in combination with a cultural podium and a canteen.
MPC is also hoping to resume its international study trips, like one to Curaçao (Radulphus College) and study trips to the Netherlands. A new initiative is an exchange programme with a Dutch secondary school (Dr. Moller College).
Sundial School
School officials are currently “very busy” with the final restoration of some of the practical classrooms for dance, art and hospitality at Sundial School. “Our aim is to have all of our students back at Sundial in their own classrooms. We are very thankful to NIPA, as last academic year our hospitality students could make use of their facilities.”
Digital interactive boards were placed in different classrooms around the schools during the summer period. At Sundial, intensive work is being done to do major repairs to the damaged roofs, windows and doors.
Sundial School has improved on its exam results year after year, with the highest score being 92 per cent that was achieved last year. “Sundial’s ambition is to stay on that high level. So, constantly the management team and the teaching staff are busy to learn of the latest educational possibilities regarding activated teaching and learning and the latest insights on how to motivate students.”
Teacher recruitment
MPC and Sundial are still in the process of recruiting teachers for music, Dutch, construction and Spanish. “We expect to have all teaching staff complete by the end of next week, before classes resume.”
De Visser said it is and has been a challenging period to find new teaching staff, especially as MPC depends a lot on Dutch teachers with experience in the Dutch system, as VWO, HAVO and TKL are Dutch educational programmes. “In addition, we applaud the initiative of the Ministry of Education to offer educational programmes for St. Maarten residents that would like to have a professional career in education,” he said.
In the meantime, a “stable” number of students are expected to enter the different departments on Monday. At the first forms level for MPC and Sundial School there will be two classes for HAVO/VWO, three classes for TKL, two classes for CCSLC and six classes PKL/PBL.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79361-mpc-and-sundial-aim-for-better-quality-education
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