Minister Rianne Letschert (Education, Culture and Science) will visit Sint Maarten, Curaรงao, and Aruba from November 16 to November 20, 2026. The visit will focus on the Ministerial Four-Country Consultation on Education, Culture and Science (M4LO) and will also serve as an introductory visit to the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Image: Martijn Beekman
Rianne Letschert Minister of Education, Culture and Science
Sint Maarten and the four-country consultation
On the morning of Tuesday, November 17, the Minister will be received by Ajamu Baly, the Governor of Sint Maarten. During the morning, she will visit the vocational institution NIPA, where, among other things, she will engage in discussions with teaching staff regarding resilience. In the afternoon, the M4LOโfor which Sint Maarten currently holds the presidencyโwill commence. Each year, the ministers of education, culture, and science from Aruba, Curaรงao, Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands meet as part of the M4LO. This year, for the first time, deputies and representatives from the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba) will also participate. The Netherlands holds the presidency of this consultative body every two years; in the intervening years, the presidency rotates among the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom.
Participants in the four-country consultation include Prime Minister Mike Eman (who also serves as Minister of Culture, Environment, and Nature) of Aruba, Minister Melissa Gumbs (Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport) of Sint Maarten, Minister Gerlien Croes (Education, Science, and Sustainable Development) of Aruba, and Minister Sithree van Heydoorn (Education, Science, Culture, and Sport) of Curaรงao.
This year, the M4LO will cover topics including the importance of collaboration between the education sector and the labor market (the "Braingain"), multilingualism in education, the use of mobile phones in the classroom, and the joint nomination process for the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on behalf of the entire Kingdom. As was the case last year, the Strategic Education Alliance (SEA) program is on the agenda; this is a significant, Kingdom-wide initiative aimed at enhancing the academic success of Caribbean students. Additionally, the report by the Education Council (Onderwijsraad) titled "Education in the Caribbean Netherlands" will be discussed.
Curaรงao
On the morning of Thursday, November 19, the Minister will travel to Curaรงao. Following a reception by Governor Mauritsz J. de Kort, Minister Letschert will visit the Parasasa Hotel, a training hotel for hospitality students. In the afternoon, the Minister will visit the University of Curaรงao, which is hosting the inaugural edition of the โFit for the Futureโ knowledge festival that day. There, Minister Letschert will engage in discussions regarding research and science in the Caribbean region. The day will conclude with an introductory meeting with the Commemoration Committee for the History of Slavery, followed by a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Otrobanda.
The visit concludes on Friday, November 20, in Aruba. Here, too, the Minister will be received by the Governor, Alfonso Boekhoudt. In Aruba, Minister Letschert will visit the โScol Primario Kudawechaโ primary school as part of the โKibrahachaโ initiative. This program focuses on the collaborative training of primary school teachers for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaรงao. This will be followed by visits to the vocational institution EPB and the University of Aruba. The dayโand with it, the entire visitโwill conclude with a visit to the National Archives of Aruba.