On Friday, July 5, eleven Dutch universi­ties of applied sciences have joined forces to improve the admission and transfer of students from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to higher education. This because, for many Caribbean students the transition to the Netherlands is a drastic change, and as a result, they don’t perform as well as they could. Therefore, extra attention to reception and guidance is crucial, states Strategic Education Alliance (SEA) on LinkedIn.

Every year, some 1,600 stu­dents from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom start their studies in the Nether­lands. But because they en­counter a lot of issues during their studies, many are un­able to complete the study programme. SEA believes that there are several reasons for this: mainly language and cultural differences. In addi­tion, both the preparation in Caribbean secondary educa­tion for a subsequent study and the guidance for these students in the Netherlands can be improved, SEA states. To increase the study success of these students, 11 Dutch universities of applied scienc­es have set up a partnership, titled “Cooperation HBO Student Success Caribbean Students.” Besides support and facilitation, there is also a substantive goal to inten­sify and formalise coopera­tion between the colleges of higher education.

This is because there is an urgent need at both Carib­bean and Dutch institutions for an integral, approach so that activities on the is­lands of the universities of applied sciences with Carib­bean partners reinforce each other. Through this integral approach, better information to and guidance of potential students, as well as coopera­tion in the field of education and research on the islands is intended, it was stated.

On July 5, the administrators of the participating universi­ties of applied sciences rati­fied the consortium with their signatures. Participating uni­versities are: The Hague University  of Applied Sciences, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Leiden University of Applied Sci­ences, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, University of Applied Sci­ences Utrecht, Amsterdam University of Applied Scienc­es, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Inhol­land University of Applied Sciences and HAN University of Applied Sciences.

The Daily Herald.