Payback time

Education Minister Jet Bussemaker was clear about the issue of study debts: they all have to be paid back.

In April, the accumulated debt of St. Maarteners who enjoyed study financing from the Netherlands, stood at €25 million, or around $26.5 million.

That’s a lot of money and the impression has been created that many students are unable to pay back and that opening local bank accounts where they can make these payments in local currencies will make repayment more feasible.

We don’t want to spoil the fun, but we think that this is highly unlikely, because banking fees can never be the main chunk of a payment. The idea that former students will run to a local bank to meet their commitments is a fairy tale –though we will gladly stand corrected when proven wrong.

The crux of the matter is that DUO is unable to find a lot of former students; the local ministry should be able to help with this, but since April nothing much has changed in this respect.

It is therefore time for action and to call these ex-students on their financial responsibilities. Finding them cannot be a huge problem on a small island like ours, but somebody has to actually do something.