The CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council) has reported on its website that the exams have been postponed for 3 weeks (so instead of starting on May 3, 2022, they now start three weeks later). In my opinion, this is an inexistent phenomenon in the European Netherlands. Education and students would — I estimate — object. In this part of the same Netherlands (Caribbean Netherlands) this happens just like that.

To the fact as such, no one change, I do understand that. And I also see that it is difficult for a club like CXC to have to maneuver between the various English-speaking, Caribbean islands, each with its own autonomous government (including a Ministry of Education). It is extremely difficult to obtain a consensus. But anyway, once there is an exam program, then in my opinion it cannot be, that with less than a week to go, the exam program is suddenly pushed back three weeks.

The exam results, according to the announcement, are not expected until the end of August or early in September 2022. What to do with pupils who have planned to continue their studies in — for example — the European Netherlands at a training institute that opens its doors for the new school year around the time that the exam results were known, is uncertain. Quite a financial risk for parents in a region that is not known for its wealthy residents. Is there any provision for this? Or did the Dutch directors not stop to think about this when they agreed to this decision-making. Or was the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science not even involved (or even invited) in this decision-making meeting?

Now I have not really been able to catch the Dutch government with a certain love for the Caribbean Netherlands, but this is another example that shows that the European Netherlands leaves Caribbean fellow countrymen out in the cold in a figurative sense. When will the representatives of the people realize that the Caribbean Netherland is also their responsibility?

I would like to hope that students from the Caribbean Netherlands who are going to study in the European Netherlands (or elsewhere) thereby run a (financial) risk because they are going to travel while they do not yet know whether they will be admitted, are not again left out in the cold. I hope that the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science still feels the responsibility to also assist the Caribbean Dutch students.

In this context, another question: has the diploma register now been prepared in the Caribbean? Or is it still impossible to register the diplomas of the Caribbean Netherlands in this register? Even the originally Dutch diplomas of HAVO and VMBO origin from a few years ago were not included. However, I do not rule out the possibility that no progress has even been made on this dossier. I hope that someone will reply to me and prove the opposite…

Jan Meijer