Today Newspaper St. Maarten

St. Maarten – Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sports Dr. Rhoda Arrindell has stressed the importance of ensuring students return to the island upon completion of their studies at universities abroad. The call was part of her announcement on Wednesday that 235 applications have been received for Study Financing and that St. Martin student Jagdeo Gumbs is now studying at Monroe College in New York, as the first recipient of a full scholarship from the college. The grant is a direct result of the memorandum of understanding that was signed with the institution last year.

“I wish to emphasize that it is not only about sending our students abroad to study, we are working very hard to put in place initiatives to bring them back after they conclude their studies. We will be working in close collaboration with other ministries and the private sector to review our priorities list for study financing and to come up with effective means of luring them back to the island. Definitely, what we cannot continue to do is to finance their studies for other countries which may not need them as much as we do, to take advantage of their newly-acquired expertise. St. Martin needs its own to return to build the new nation we all want for our future generations,” Arrindell said.

Study financing applications

Of the 235 applications that were filed for study financing 106 are for The Netherlands, 62 for the United States and 67 for the region. The latter figure covers Aruba, Curacao, and St. Martin. The applications are being processed by the Division of Study Financing ahead of submitting the information to the Study Financing Committee for handling and then to the minister for final approval.

St. Maarten Minister wants more students to come home by admin