Dutch to provide more funds
for education in BES Islands
THE HAGUE--The Dutch Government has increased its budget to improve education on the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Per year, 6.28 million euro has been budgeted for 2009 and 2010. An amount of four million euros had been mentioned earlier.
Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk stated this in a letter to the Second Chamber. It was announced during last month’s handling of the Dutch education budget that The Hague was making available 10 million euros for this year and 2010. The money is reserved to improve the educational facilities on the three islands which in the future will be integrated into the Dutch Constellation as “public entities.”
Plasterk stated in his letter that as part of the Education and Youth Cooperation Programme OJSP, 2.28 million euros was being made available for the BES islands.
In consultation with Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten and the governments of the three islands, it was decided to use these funds for the programme to revamp the islands’ educational facilities. This means that 6.28 million euros will be available for the two-year period.
Plasterk, who is planning to pay a working visit to the BES islands early this year, implied during the budget debate on education mid-December 2008 that education on the three islands needed investments. “The level is not what it should be. Education is a concern,” he said at that time.
He said this in response to a report by the Dutch Inspection for Education, which looked at the educational facilities on the BES islands. Member of Parliament Ineke Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink of the liberal democratic party VVD called the report “devastating.” She asked what government planned to do to improve education on the BES islands.
