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Minister Jacobs (center) with the team involved in Education on the Move. Photo Today / Andrew Bishop
St. Maarten News – Education Minister Silveria Jacobs launched her Education on the Move initiative on Friday. The program aims to stimulate participation of all stakeholders in education. “There are comments about what is happening in education, but some fail to realize that education is everyone’s business,†the minister said.
The ministry wants to use the campaign to make the necessary changes. “The idea is to get the community involved, and make people understand how important and valuable education is for the society. For this reason it is deemed a campaign that will engage the entire of St. Maarten,†Jacobs said.
The minister spoke of South Africa in the time of Nelson Mandela who said that education is one of the most important weapons that could change the world. “Although St. Maarten is only 16 square miles there is a wealth of resources within our people and communities that can make the change to get us to where we want to be,†she said.
The campaign aims to increase awareness about the importance of education and to point out that education is the key to open all doors. It furthermore wants to promote good morals in an effort to rid the society of crime and acts of violence.
The campaign will continue throughout the year; during education – from November 14 to 18 – all schools will have activities to promote the importance of education. The Oranje School will have its book week at the same time.
The campaign will be highlighted in the media. Jacobs pointed furthermore to the initiative “drop everything and read†where parents are encouraged to use time to read. Parents could make this into a competition and challenge their children to read books during this period.
