WILLEMSTAD - Measures to improve the performance of Caribbean students in the Netherlands have not yet had the desired result. This is apparent from the 2021-2022 higher education policy measures monitor that Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science has sent to the Dutch House of Representatives.
The monitor provides a broad overview of the most important developments in higher education in the past year. The monitor is set up around three themes: participation in education, study behavior and student finance.
The number of students from the CAS and BES islands that will study in the Netherlands has increased slightly this year after a decrease last year. Mainly students from Curaçao and Aruba leave for the Netherlands for their studies.
The number of Caribbean students switching studies is high and many graduate with a study delay. But the dropout rate among European-Dutch students in higher professional education is actually higher.
Nevertheless, the monitor concludes that the success rate of Caribbean students is lower than that of European-Dutch students. "Following persistent signals about the lagging study performance of students from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, research has been conducted into obstacles and points for improvement in the connection of Caribbean preparatory education to Dutch higher education," the report reads.