GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Perry Geerlings (Chairman of the board of Stichting Soualiga Foundation (SSF) in the Netherlands) gave a presentation about the report of the forum held in April of 2012 which had been organized by SSF.
The report focused on students in the Netherlands, who gave their opinions on the challenges they face as well as possible solutions which they themselves could work on as well as government.
The report was presented to the Honorable Prime Minister Sarah Wescott Williams and Hon. Minister Silveria Jacobs.
Several reasons were given by students as to why they are taking longer with their studies, giving prevalent answers ranging from lack of proper preparation before coming to Holland to lack of assertiveness and confidence.
Literacy in the Dutch language was also noted as an area that needed to improve. On a positive note the majority of students feel that the level of education they'd attained on St. Maarten was a good one. They also said that more information on the actual numbers of students completing their studies and moving higher should be made known, and that there was hundreds of well-educated St. Maarten professionals living in the Netherlands, Minister Jacobs stated on Thursday.
Minister Jacobs added: "Many of the proposed solutions are already within the vision and mission of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, however I will peruse the report to ascertain if any of the other suggestions can be added to the ministry's priority list of projects."
