PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday morning, 25+ fifth graders from the St. Joseph Primary School, along with their teacher and a parent, visited the House of Parliament at Wilhelmina Straat in Philipsburg.
Arrindell during the school visit also commended a parent who took time off from work to be present to assist the class teacher with the school visit.
"I greatly appreciate the effort made by this parent to attend and support her son. Parents have to take time out of their busy schedules to support their children as they are the future and they need that support," the President of Parliament said on Sunday.
Arrindell was very pleased with the interests shown by the fifth graders into the institution of parliament. "I marvelled at their faces when I see the interaction and the interests they have in the highest institution of the land."
The President of Parliament told the students they should aspire to be part of the institution of parliament as it is a fundamental part of the country's parliamentary democracy.
Arrindell explained the students about the workings of the country's parliamentary democracy with respect to the roles of Members of Parliament (MPs); who were the MPs and Council of Ministers.
During the enactment of a parliamentary session, students posed a number of questions to their fellow students who were acting as Ministers.
The questions that students asked each other were about the economy, crime, and independence for Sint Maarten, life sentence for human trafficking, and how disputes between Ministers are dealt with.
The students at the end of the presentation were also given a tour of the House of Parliament.
I wish to applaud thye efforts to inform and to educate students about the functioning and the role of parliamentarians. Giving them a tour of the Parliament Building is all nice and well. Even to add to this we have a youth Parliament of St. Maarten who organizes different events given them the opportunity to learn more about the legislative branch of Government and what their responsibilities are. However I would like to advise the organisers of these organised visitations to Parliament to add also that all parliamentarians must first go through an election process before they can hold the office of a parliamentarian. I believe that they should also educate them as how to choose the brightest and best to occupy the seats of Parliament. They should let them also know that they must present a proper plan of action which they must present to the people they are representing in order to convince them why they believe that they are the best candidate for that position. We must also let our students know that their friends and families or very popular individuals are not always the best persons to hold public office. The organisers should also let the students be aware that they should be critical and ask questions about policies that are vague so that they are given a proper explanation of the direction that their parliamentarians are taken them to. They should be informed in principle that they must first have a vision which the people can identify with before they are elected to the office of Parliament. The above are areas that should be made known to our students so that they don't have a false belief of how one becomes a parliamentarian and the different responsibilities that parliament has. Many times we misinform our young people about areas that causes them to have the wrong impression of those areas. I hope that this information would give the organisers an idea of how they should inform the students of the very important role of a parliamentarian and how they can occupy the seat of parliament.