DUO opens temporary service centres in the Caribbean Area
In autumn, the Education Executive Agency [Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs] (DUO) is going to open temporary service centres on Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire in order to provide information services to prospective and former students. DUO is also going to organise information sessions and offer tailor-made support. Residents of the Leeward Islands will have the opportunity to consult a DUO staff member via chat and video conferencing.
Service centres
DUO is going to open a temporary service centre on Aruba and Curaçao from the 1st to the 26th of November. Prospective and former students will be able to access the service centre without having to make an appointment for answers to all their questions about study financing and the repayment of their student debt. The temporary service centre on Bonaire is going to be open from the 29th of November up to and including the 10th of December. Residents of the Leeward Islands will have the opportunity to consult a DUO staff member via chat and video conferencing.
Information
During their visit to the Caribbean area, DUO staff members will also hold information sessions for prospective and former students who are about to start repaying their student debt. Anyone who cannot attend one of these meetings can register for a webinar which will have the same topics.
Tailor-made support
DUO is keen to help prevent former students getting into financial difficulties. For that reason, former students with payment arrears with DUO will be given a final opportunity to avoid a collection agency being called in. Some of them have received a payment arrangement proposal. Others will receive an invitation from DUO to meet with a staff member in order to find a tailor-made solution.
More information
More information about the locations and opening hours of the temporary service centres and the times of the information meetings can be found at duo.nl/bezoekantillen.
Among other things DUO implements laws and regulations, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), relating to the funding of education institutions, the provision of study financing and school expenditure allowances, the collection of student debts and the management and the exchange of data linked to student registration numbers.