There is some good news on the educational front today. For one thing “Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs” (DUO) in the Netherlands announced a grace period for study debt payments by former St. Maarten students. Of course, those involved must be properly registered, but they can at least get relief from this financial obligation until December 2018.
The move will no doubt be welcomed by the professionals in question. It’s no secret that these debts are a considerable burden to many of them, partly because for years the euro rose in value compared to the US dollar to which the Antillean guilder is pegged, making for an unfavourable exchange rate.
Also positive is Tuesday’s reopening of Philipsburg Jubilee Library, despite the building having suffered substantial damage. Especially with electricity, cable television and Internet still not available everywhere, being able to access reading materials is a great necessity.
What’s more, the facility has an Internet Café and DVDs visitors can use there. Outreach services like book boxes for day-care centres and afterschool programmes as well as puppet theatre and reading activities are resuming too.
Touching was the report about Saba’s Queen Wilhelmina Library holding a bake and food sale to benefit St. Maarten’s library. It shows that while perhaps constitutionally a bit further apart since 10-10-10, ties between the two islands remain strong.
In addition, donations to aid local schools, pupils and their parents continue, as for example seen in stories about 1,000 composition books and other learning materials supplied by Office World and the initiative of a student in the Netherlands. Various similar contributions have been made since the passage of Hurricane Irma, not in the last place three pavilion tents to house 36 classrooms and school furniture brought in by Dutch navy ship Karel Doorman on October 1 paid for with European Union (EU) funds.
Unfortunately, there is also some bad news at University of St. Martin, where President Francio Guadeloupe tendered his resignation after having earlier warned that closure would be imminent without a significant subsidy increase.
Hopefully, a solution can be found for that situation, because it’s the island’s only institution of higher learning. The importance of education, particularly in times of relative economic uncertainty, shouldn’t be underestimated.
All in all, despite having to miss close to a month of classes, it appears that – with a little help – most schools are quickly getting back on track.
