The Rutte IV Cabinet is allocating means to provide so-called kingdom scholarships, aimed at increasing the temporary exchange of stu­dents within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

According to the Spring Memorandum with adjust­ments to the budget for this year, 500,000 euros will be made available for this pur­pose. This is in response to the motion submitted by Members of Parliament Jorien Wuite (D66) and Habtamu de Hoop (PvdA) in February 2022.

During the Four-Country Education Consultation in Willemstad last January, the ministers of Curacao, Aruba, and St. Maarten agreed with Dutch Min­ister Robbert Dijkgraaf’s proposal to introduce a kingdom scholarship. It is unknown whether the Ca­ribbean countries will con­tribute financially to the fund.

With the scholarship, young people from the is­lands can more easily pur­sue further education at vo­cational, higher education and university levels as well as internships in the Neth­erlands or on any of the other islands.

Currently, students from Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and St.Eustatius can use the “Erasmus+ programme” scholarship to study in all European Union (EU) states except the Nether­lands. This is now being rectified.

Several studies, including one by the National Om­budsman, have shown that many Caribbean students face additional barriers when pursuing further edu­cation in the Netherlands. The reasons lie both in pre­paratory education on the islands and further educa­tion in the European part of the kingdom.

Therefore, work is also be­ing done on the introduc­tion of an “academic ori­entation year” for students arriving in the Netherlands. The Spring Memorandum does not provide clear in­formation on the amounts reserved for the coming years.

The Daily Herald.