St. Martin News Network

So does this mean you no longer require to know dutch in order to work for government???????? Because I would love for someone to help me understand why our gov love sending our children to America and once they return they have difficulty getting a job in gov.

with all due respect to you "well well". Are all the schools on SXM dutch schools? Do all our students study the dutch language? Can all the students work for Gov when they get back? Do you speak? Did you read the article properly? I am sure you are also aware of the problems many of our students face with the Dutch Language when they go to the Netherlands. I think the choice is still up to the students and the parents where and what they want to study.

This is a wonderful opportunity for students that want to go to the states to study. We should all be glad that there's another opportunity for someone who otherwise would not be able to afford a quality education for their child. To say that the only reason to get an education is to be able to come back and just get a job in govt. is small minded thinking.

if know better knew better he would understand when a country spends it's money on their future generation, it is expected that they get the best employees to return home and give back to their country. and what better place than in government. Right now that we are going to country sint maarten we are having a problem with finding persons to fit the higher paid vacancies which all require you to speak dutch moreover they are not scouting for them in america they are scouting in the holland for the best of the best.. newsflash... It is reported that if they can not find locals who are on the level that they are looking for ( and can write and speak dutch) they are going to recruit persons from curacaco because they have the level of dutch language and it is believed that they are more educated than those educated in america.. and let just say it is easy to say someone is small minded when they no understanding of how it feels when you return home from getting a Masters degree and can not get a job because you don't understand dutch on level gov wants, and yes i agree that you can find a job other than gov but is a sense of pride to come home and work for your country. But then again alot of people who go to the states don't come back so send them.

i wanted to go to the army in curacao and because of my limited knowledge of dutch language was one of the 3 reasons i was send back to sxm, then i tried immigration, police, customs and prision guard all turn me down why my low level of the dutch language.. I say I from here loud and clear but they say you from here and carry a Dutch pa*sport but can not speak the dutch language.. BRAVO..Now I can not serve my country they way I would want too..I hope when we go country sxm we change that policy..

To well well.. the article states "Johnson & Wales is offering a yearly tuition fee (room and board for $15000) that is half the cost of what the regular tuition fee is. The government offers that same amount in study financing..this is an opportunity for the students who want to something else than work for govermnent to also benefit from this help. there are other industries on the island that cater to other forms of Degrees (our hotel and tourism industry for example) that don't really require you to know the Dutch language at such a high level. There are areas that require Managers and Directors and even CEOs. We have major hotels here that for example import qualified Chef and other personel and they don't really need to speak Dutch so why not send our student to do the same thing they are doing and come back to occupy those positions.. this is just to mention one. So yes we must be able to bring our students home for government jobs, but we also need to bring them home for the other sectors as well. And there nothing wrong in encouraging them to take up on the opportunity offered by Johnson & Wales. Maybe more Colleges and Universities in the US and Holland should offer packages like this one then our Government would spend less on study financing.. Food for thought.. I applaud the effort of government and J&W....I rest my case now