PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday February 15th, Minister Plenipotentiary sat with her staff, to once again address the issue of rise in the unprepared “Free moving†students, (students that travel on their own, and not through the Bureau of Study financing), to The Netherlands, in an ambitious attempt to pursue their tertiary education.
For the past months, the cabinet of the Ministry Plenipotentiary in The Hague has been encountering numerous troubling situations with youngsters from Sint Maarten, who for whatever reason, have decided to take this route.
The Minister took note that while the students, making the choice to travel to the Netherlands on their own is on the rise, quite often the necessary preparations in terms of housing, the acceptance and enrolment into schools in particular, among other things, is not completed before these ambitious students leave Sint Maarten.
Being that they independently make contact with schools in The Netherlands, they are not in contact with the Study Financing Department on Sint Maarten, and therefore do not participate in the trainings offered that help the other students prepare for among other things, the change in the social and cultural landscape of the Netherlands to which they must adapt.
In most cases, this results in these students facing insurmountable issues, where they struggle to get a grip of the situation they are in Read more
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