GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports (Ministry ECYS) says that it is with great concern that we have taken note of an article that appeared in the Daily Herald of January 16, 2013 under the heading; "USC officials worried government not recognizing teaching degrees".
Statements in this article attributed to USC Academic Dean Dr. Clayton DrePaul regarding the fact 15 to 20 teachers' jobs may be in jeopardy because USC's accreditation issue are erroneous and misleading.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs wishes to assure school boards, teachers, parents/guardians and students that no teachers are in jeopardy of losing their job. It is rather unfortunate that after what can be termed as a fruitful meeting with USC officials, the misinformation of the public took place in this manner.
The Ministry through the Division of Educational Innovations (DEI) has organized Foundation Based Education Certification training programs for uncertified teachers. As such all uncertified teachers have been given ample opportunity to become compliant with the existing Foundation Based Education (FBE) laws (article 3).
Since 10-10-10, the Division of Exams has assumed the responsibility for the evaluation of degrees on St. Maarten. Two persons within the Division have been trained and certified by NUFFIC to evaluate degrees and credentials. The NUFFIC are the experts in the Netherlands in the area of credential evaluations. The NUFFIC is not an accreditation agency as is being suggested in the article.
The FBE ordinance mandates that all teaching degrees obtained outside of the former Netherlands Antilles must be evaluated. Since 2011, the Division of Exams has evaluated only four USC degrees. These degrees were not recognized due to the fact that USC only finalized its accreditation in May 2012.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs is responsible for ensuring a high quality of education on St. Maarten. As such checks and balances have to be put in place to safeguard our educational system against persons with bogus degrees and/or degrees obtained from so-called degree mills.
The Government of St. Maarten subsidizes the Teachers Education Program at the University of St. Maarten and has placed as a prerequisite, the NVAO (The Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders) accreditation, as such regional and international educational institutions will be held to similar standards.
Is USM accredited? No; but the diplomas of their teacher graduates are being considered as recognizable teaching degrees based on what. These should go through the same standards upheld by NUFFIC. NVAO "is not an accreditation agency". USM teacher diploma should go through the same scrutiny if you really want to talk about having an equal playing field as far as quality of teacher training programs are concerned.
If DEI would stop patting itself on its back and take a serious look at the FBE program, it will come to the realization, as the rest of St. Maarten does, that the program is not working. These are the things that WITU should be concerned about.
Was USM considered on the same level as the UNA in the former Neth. Antil.? No; based on the same laws. Has anything changed with USM since 10-10-10 in that regard? No; reason why they should be brought up to the standards as prescribed by law. USM is being neglected by all governments.
Before looking outside of your border for other universities to send our children to, why don't ministers and parliamentarians alike place a sincere effort on upgrading what we have. Every university has its growing pains, but a responsible government does not leave it hanging and continue to send our children abroad. Regional study you say? Nothing is better than studying in your own backyard. Right now we have a serious brain-drain problem.
It is worth noting that the intelligence of a country is measured by the emphasis and high standard that is placed on quality education.