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Information for parents

Anyone in the Caribbean Netherlands has the right to set up a school with education based on their own faith and/or beliefs. One of the conditions for being able to establish a new school is that there is sufficient interest. You can express your interest in a new school by issuing a parent declaration.

What is a parent declaration?

By handing in a completed parent declaration, you are indicating that you would like to enrol your child at the new school if it were to open. This declaration does not mean that you are obliged to do so. You can always decide to enrol your child at a different school.

Conditions for the parent declaration

In order to submit a valid parent declaration, the following criteria must be met:

  • You are the child’s parent/guardian and also have power of decision;
  • You may submit one parent declaration per child;
  • For primary education, the child must be 2 to 4 years old on the 1st of November of the calendar year in which you issue the declaration. For secondary education, the child must be 10 to 12 years old at the most;
  • The child must reside on the island of the new school;
  • You have not supported any other approved initiative in the past 2 years.

Procedure for completing and sending in the parent declaration

This procedure will take effect in the Caribbean Netherlands as of the 1st of July 2021.

As of 2021, you can support an initiative from the 1st of July until the 15th of October by means of your parent declaration, allowing the party taking the initiative to prove that there is sufficient interest in the new school.

  • Go to the Initiatives page; (link naar die pagina t.z.t. toevoegen)
  • Find the initiative you want to support in the list of initiatives;
  • Check the status of the initiative, to make sure the initiative has not already been submitted or withdrawn. In those cases it is not possible to submit or withdraw a parent declaration;
  • Download the form 'Submit Parent Declaration for the Caribbean Netherlands' on the bottom of this page and fill it in. You can also pick up a copy of this form from the office on your island; link naar contactpagina van website OCW in CN: https://www.rijksdienstcn.com/onderwijs-cultuur-wetenschap/contact
  • Between the 1st of July 2021 and the 15th of October 2021, you can hand in your completed Parent Declaration in person at the office of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland on your island. On Bonaire and St. Eustatius, you can hand it in at the OCW office and on Saba at the secretariat of RCN in The Bottom. The address details of the offices can be found on the Contact page of OCW ; link naar contactpagina van website OCW in CN: https://www.rijksdienstcn.com/onderwijs-cultuur-wetenschap/contact.
    Your form will then be sent to DUO via a secure link;
  • You must bring along your own ID and the number of your child’s ID. Your child should reside on the island of the new school;

Procedure for withdrawing a parent declaration

  • Until October 15 you can withdraw your parent declaration, if you want to do so. For this too, you can obtain the necessary form at the office of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland as explained above. Your parent declaration can only be withdrawn by you yourself;
  • You can download the form “Intrekken ouderverklaring” below on this page.

What happens next?

The Minister of Education decides whether or not an initiative for a new school can go ahead, after which this is indicated on the Initiatives page (t.z.t. met link).

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