The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports in collaboration with the Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs Bovenwindse Eilanden (SVOBE), University of St. Martin and the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a research presentation on “ Adolescent Risk Taking Behavior on St. Maarten”.
This presentation will be given by local St. Maarten student, Drs. Ivy Defoe, who recently conducted a study on the topic at several secondary schools on the island.
Defoe, who is now pursuing her doctoral degree, attended the Milton Peters College and left the island to start her tertiary studies in the Netherlands. She successfully achieved a bachelors and a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit before embarking on her next goal of pursuing a doctoral degree.
Ivy is presently a PhD candidate at the University of Utrecht’s faculty of Social and Behavioral Science and has acquired a wealth of experience in conducting scientific research, peer reviewed publications, motivational speaking and has initiated the Caribbean Student PHD Network among other achievements.
During her visit, Ivy will also make a courtesy call to the office of the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Mrs. Patricia Lourens.
The presentation, which will be held on August 27th, 2014, at the University of St. Martin, will be open for all stakeholders involved with the youth and the general public to attend. There will be two sessions scheduled, namely at 10.00 -11.30 AM and 3.30 -5.00 PM. Interested persons are free to choose which session they would like to attend and should RSVP at: youthaffairs@sintmaartengov.org.
Following the presentations on Wednesday, Ivy will conclude her visit by hosting workshops with the youth in various secondary education institutions as well as a session with government policy officers to discuss trends and possible solutions to the youth related challenges based on her research outcome.
