Philipsburg: --- Responding to questions posed to her concerning statements made by Minister of Education Omyra Leeflang. Education commissioner Sarah Wescot Williams said she already requested to meet with the Minister since would need some explanations on the statements the Minister made last week concerning the implementation of compulsory education. Leeflang had said there are monies available to St. Maarten for the introduction of compulsory education and she felt these monies should be used to build more schools. Wescot Williams said she would not be going into details on the matter since she noticed several ministers and the island government is busy speaking at each other and not to each other. She said even though she was aware that the Minister would be visiting schools and meeting with several stakeholders she was not aware if there was meeting with her and the minister. Wescot Williams said for this reason she requested a meeting with the Minister and other school officials. She said she is hoping that the Minister would clarify her statements and she would then use the opportunity to provide the Minister with additional and new information with respect to what St. Maarten is doing in the education sector and the plans they have. She said she needs to know where St. Maarten has monies lying around since is simply not the case. Wescot Williams said based on the education cooperation agreement the island has submitted their programs for funding.She said one pillar of the program is compulsory education while another one is the social formation which is also part of the proposed funding for St. Maarten. The island leader and education commissioner said she does not believe the minister has all the relevant information regarding St. Maarten and she hopes to share the information with her.
Quincy Harrigan said additionally the executive council forwarded a letter to the minister just over a month ago informing her of the island's plans regarding compulsory education. In this letter the cost of implementing compulsory education was mentioned as well as the additional funding that would be needed. He said even though the minister is saying there is funding available for the implementation of compulsory education the minister has not responded to their letter. The Minister of Education is expected to arrive on St. Maarten today for the UNESCO meetings.