Construction new building Out of School program starts next year


The construction of the new building for the Out of School program is
expected to start in the second half of 2022. The area that is
designated for the realization of this building is situated in Lynch, to
the north of the Governor de Graaff school.
The Public Entity St. Eustatius is responsible for the realization of the
project which task has been delegated to the Directorate Social Domain.
A project team coordinates the input from the users of the building in the
design phase that recently started, and at a later stage coordinates the
construction. Government Commissioner Alida Francis said she is proud
that the island reached this stage. ‘’It is expected that the construction will
start in the second half of 2022.’’
After inspection of the existing buildings in use for Out of School Programs
and after meetings with the stakeholders, it became clear that the current
buildings are not in line with the vision and mission of the programs. In
addition, the buildings do not meet the quality requirements as stipulated
in the Basic Ordinance Childcare.
The Public Entity has the final responsibility for the quality of these
programs, which is laid down in this Ordinance. For Statia one of the main
aspects of this program is the quality of the buildings. This is the reason
why the process started with the development of plans for a building to
accommodate the Out of School Programs. Edwin Meyer Viol, the architect
who is contracted to design the building and prepare the tender documents,
is currently on Statia to meet with the key stakeholders.
Centers
There are 3 centers in Statia that provide out of school care: Mega D Youth
Foundation, Daughters of the King and Academic and Professional Training
Center (A+). The program BES(t)4KIDS for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba
started in 2019 which the objective to improve the overall quality of
childcare. It is financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Ministry
of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports.
The program focusses on children between 6-18 years old during out of
school hours. In the future, it is expected that the programs will be used by
approximately 300 children.