Curaçao & Sint Maarten - UNDP Trinidad and Tobago

This phenomenon is characterized as boys at secondary level who repeat classes, drop out of school and more often
score lower grades than girls. Education provides a basic foundation for the children of any country and in particular
for new emerging nations.
The youth literacy is measured as the ability to both read and write with understanding a short statement on everyday
life seems to be below par. Since the youth literacy rate is a reflection of the past 10 years of primary education, it can
serve as an effective measure of a successful primary education system and a proxy measure of social progress and
economic achievements. The report highlights that while the quantitative enrolment levels in primary and secondary
schools are on track, the persistently low literacy rate ratios and high dropout rates particularly amongst male youth is a
serious cause for concern. Given the issues related to differences in school facilities, available resources, and demands
on boys’ time for work or engagement in drug related activities and other disincentives, it will be timely to address an
integrated academic curriculum that incorporates formal and informal education components as a priority.
Furthermore, the effect of migration on the drain brain is vast. Over 30 thousand people have migrated to the
Netherlands in past years and approximately 300-400 young people go to the Netherlands on an annual basis
to further their studies, with a small percentage (approximately 5%) returning to the islands. Firstly, it creates a
human resource capacity gap in an already volatile human resource capacity area, particularly in the case of Sint
Maarten. Secondly, the educational system in both islands does not seem to adequately prepare the youth for a
holistic integration into the Netherlands and other regions where they migrate for higher level academic training.
The scarcity of human resources as noted in the Curaçao Economic Outlook 2008 should be addressed through
temporary foreign workers and encouraging the locals living abroad to return. While mitigating measures must be
urgently identified to address these issues, another core concern for review relates to the language of academic
instruction in primary and secondary schools. The three official languages since 2007 are Dutch, Papiamento (the
indigenous language of the former Leeward Islands of the former Netherlands Antilles) and English. The Dutch
language is used at all levels of education though the preferred lingua franca in Curaçao is Papiamento and English/
Dutch in Sint Maarten. While appreciating the benefits of a multilingual approach in education that gives children
the opportunities to learn different languages at an early age, caution must also be exercised in the application
and monitoring of the multilingual scheme to avoid creating gaps/tiers in educational attainment and literacy
levels. The question of the appropriate language of instruction requires further dialogue, with the need to balance
the multidimensional compositions of the islands within a multi cultural society. It is also important to increase
investments in higher education to keep pace with a growing population and the pressures of migrant populations.
The discussions already initiated on restructuring of the educational system are plausible. However the educational
leading position of females has not yet led to a substantial improvement of the position of females in the labor
market where the average income of males still seems to be higher than that of female workers.
First National Report | Curaçao and Sint Maarten Millennium Development Goals | 2011 Report
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