Registration for Kingdom Scholarship now open
The Caribbean Netherlands – Students from the Caribbean and European parts of the Kingdom have been able to apply for the Kingdom Scholarship since September. This scholarship enables students to participate in an internship or study exchange for a period between 21 days and 6 months on one of the 6 islands or in the Netherlands. The application period extends until 14 October 2025. The scheme applies to students at secondary vocational education (MBO 3/4) level, higher vocational education (HBO) level, or university education (WO) level who are studying a recognised course on a full-time basis.
Unique opportunity
The scholarship gives students the opportunity to look beyond the borders of their own country or island, gain experience in a different context and continue their academic and personal development. The first students to benefit from the scholarship did so last year. The scholarship itself covers costs such as travel, accommodation and living expenses. The value of the scholarship is comparable to the Erasmus+ programme and amounts to a maximum of €5,900 for students in the Caribbean and it is intended to make it more financially feasible for them to gain experience abroad.
Selection by drawing lots
The number of available scholarships is limited and varies per island. Students are selected by drawing lots. Students who want to be considered can send an email to koninkrijksbeurs@rijksdienstcn.com for more information, or visit the webpage: https://english.rijksdienstcn.com/education-culture-science/kingdom-scholarship
Helping to achieve academic success and equal opportunities
The Kingdom Scholarship is one of the measures which are intended to increase the academic success of Caribbean students and ensure that they have equal opportunities. The scholarship initially offers students the chance – over a temporary period of time – to find out what it is like to study or do an internship in another part of the Kingdom before possibly enrolling in a proper educational programme.
Efforts to improve academic success are high on the agenda of the Ministers of Education of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands. At the request of these ministers, the programme team of the Strategic Education Alliance (SEA), www.strategiceducationalliance.org, has been commissioned to focus fundamentally on improving the academic success of Caribbean students over the next three years.