On behalf of the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, the Division of Study Financing hereby informs the general public and study-financing recipients in the Netherland that:
Effective July 1, 2015, three persons were hired as guidance counselors in the Netherlands.
These persons are Ms. Ellen Rosina, Mrs. Xaviera Mac Donald Archangel and Mrs. Geesha Alaran-Williams.
All three persons have strong ties with St.Maarten, good knowledge of St. Maarten’s culture, its traditions and are experienced with coaching, motivating and counseling students to excel academically.
The new guidance counselors will be responsible for the care, guidance and supervision of first- and second year students in the Netherlands, a task previously assigned to S4.
The guidance counselors will execute their tasks in accordance with the established task description and they will report directly to the Division Study Financing on St.Maarten. Their performance will be monitored and evaluated periodically to optimize the level of services provided.
The main features of the care program will be empathy, concern and interest, effortlessly trying, attentiveness and support. The main features of the guidance program will be empowering and advising students. The main features of the supervision program will be encouraging of autonomy, open discussion and strengthening of the supervisory relationship.
This new approach will bring care, guidance and supervision closer to the students as the guidance counselors will not be stationed in one location but rather mobile throughout the Netherlands. This should eventually lead to improvement in the general well-being of our students and their academic performance.
The guidance counselors will be on St.Maarten from July 26th to August 2nd , 2015 for meetings, training and to partake in the annual preparatory workshops for students who will be pursuing their studies in the Netherlands.