ST. EUSTATIUS – Minister Arie Slob (Primary and Secondary Education & Media) visited Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire from Monday January 13th to Wednesday January 15th. This visit was mainly about getting acquainted with the education field on the three islands. In addition to speaking to various school managements, the minister has also had conversations with numerous students.
“I
am happy with the warm welcome. It is great to see the people involved work
with so much passion and effort on the education and development of children on
Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius. All education has their basic quality in
order, which is a great achievement. It is now important to hold on to this and
to continue building on it,” according to the Minister.
On Wednesday afternoon, Minister Slob and Commissioner Nina den Heyer signed the second educational accommodation covenant for Bonaire. Under the first covenant, signed in 2012, a number of school buildings have been radically renovated. A new accommodation has also been built for the Liseo Boneriano (mavo, havo and vwo) of the Bonaire Scholengemeenschap (SGB) and for Kolegio Papa Cornes (primary education).
The second covenant that has now been signed establishes, among other things, the agreements for new accommodation to be built for the MBO and VMBO section of the SGB, for De Pelikaan (primary school) and for renovation of the housing of Kolegio Kristu Bon Wardador (primary school). New here is that the activities on Bonaire will be executed by the Fundashon Propiedat Inmobil Bonaire, under the responsibility of the public entity Bonaire. Until recently, the Central Government Real Estate Agency (Rijksvastgoedbedrijf, RVB) was responsible for the management of the various projects on behalf of the public entities and the Ministry.
In the period of 2012 through 2019, various school buildings were renovated on Saba and St. Eustatius as well and a new school was built on St. Eustatius for the Governor de Graaff School (primary education). This was directed by the RVB. New covenants for the remaining education housing projects have also been signed with the public entities of Saba and Statia. On Saba, in addition to extensive renovations and new construction for the Sacred Heart Elementary School and the Saba Comprehensive School, a new complex will be created for pre-school and after-school care. On St. Eustatius, work is currently underway on a new school complex for the Gwendoline van Putten School and an upgrade of the outside area of the recently renovated Seventh Day Adventist School for primary education.
Minister Slob: “I am proud of the agreements on educational accommodation that we have made with each other. This gives confidence to continue working for the future, in which we will continue our cooperation to further improve education on the islands, in the interest of all children.”
