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THE HAGUE – There is good news for students from the BES islands: study financing has been adjusted. With this adjustment students can now study in Canada. The Second Chamber decided on this revision.

Saba had requested study financing become available for studies in Canada and the US, considering that many Saban and Statian students prefer to study in an English speaking country rather than in the Netherlands, because their native language is English.

Rose Caines: “Nine out of ten Statia students do not speak Dutch fluently. It took me 2 years to learn. Students still come to the Netherlands because the study is cheap, but it’s so important to be able to speak the language.”

Canadian Universities
Esther Henry, who is studying in the United States, is excited about this pending adjustment. She has already been gathering information on a number of Canadian universities. “It would save me about $5,000, but also the level of education in Canada is higher.” She now wants to complete her MBA in Canada.

American Universities too expensive
Rose Caines, who studies now in Holland, is elated by this news. The tuition fee of American Universities was simply too high. Caines: “The main reason I would like to go to Canada is to complete my education and because it would be cheaper to do so there.”

In Canada, Caines would surely not suffer from a language barrier. Many Statian students are also facing a dilemma with the language barrier, she said. “Nine out of ten Statia students do not speak Dutch fluently. It took me 2 years to learn. Students still come to the Netherlands because the study is cheap, but it’s so important to be able to speak the language.”

Other changes
Study financing for students of the BES Islands has been made conform to financing for students in the Netherlands. Now financing is possible for students who visit accredited private schools.

Currently the government does not fund such programs, but students are eligible for study financing now. Also students who receive study financing in the BES islands can now enrol in a program half way through the academic year.

The cost of living does not stop though and with financing missing, students often got into financial trouble.

Students, who’d swap to another course in the middle of an academic year did not receive study financing because technically they stopped a study and did not officially yet start a new study. The cost of living does not stop though and with financing missing, students often got into financial trouble. Now, the same as for students in the Netherlands, financing will start in August.

Monthly payment
Students can now request to adjust to other than monthly payments. For many students studying in the US a monthly payment is not ideal, because their University stipulates tuitions are to be paid in two instalments yearly.