News item | 02-12-2025 | 4:15 PM
The education ministers of Suriname and the Netherlands jointly have the platform Cooperation with educational institutions in the Netherlands and Suriname (SONS) launched. The festive occasion took place during the state visit of the Netherlands to Suriname, in the presence of representatives of the platform. The launch marks the start of a closer and more strategic collaboration between the knowledge institutions involved and brings coherence and focus to the many projects and individual initiatives that have been built up over decades. The expectation is that this will provide students and researchers with new opportunities to collaborate across national borders.
The long-standing bond between Surinamese and Dutch educational institutions is strengthened by the Dutch language, the shared past and similarities in the educational systems, as well as by the Surinamese community in the Netherlands. This collaboration is bundled in the SONS platform for secondary vocational education, higher professional education and universities. SONS supports educational institutions from Suriname and the Netherlands in sustainable, equal cooperation. The platform facilitates knowledge sharing, innovation and joint development of future-oriented education that meets social needs in both countries.
Dirk Currie, Surinamese Minister of Education, Science and Culture (OWC): “The launch of the SONS platform is a step further, whereby the collaboration between educational institutions in Suriname and the Netherlands can be finalized through central coordination. This platform provides insight into the collaborations and the aim is for every collaboration to be of a sustainable nature. The collaborations will take place at university policy level, at teacher and student exchange, at joint research and at PHD level.”
Gouke Moes, Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW): “The fact that we speak the same language is a fertile ground for educational collaborations between Suriname and the Netherlands. It is good that we are joining forces in the SONS platform. In this way we create space for structural collaboration between students, teachers and researchers in both countries. We can complement each other well: with research in laboratories in the Netherlands and field work among the mangrove trees in Suriname, we arrive at solutions for flooding in both countries.”
Joint projects
The platform will focus on joint curriculum development, professionalization of teachers, and exploring and initiating exchange and research projects that respond to current social issues. In concrete terms, this concerns, for example:
- Making agreements and a shared policy between educational institutions regarding exchanges and internships, so that they meet the needs of students from both countries and Surinamese courses even more.
- Stimulating interdisciplinary projects between university, higher vocational and secondary vocational education institutions, for example in the areas of biodiversity, health, agriculture, food security and technology.
Looking to the future
The platform flows from it Memorandum of Understanding and the associated education agenda, which were signed by both countries in June 2023, formalize and provide a framework for years of cooperation between the knowledge institutions. This collaboration will continue. A declaration of intent was signed for this during the first day of the state visit. Later this year, the new formal collaboration will take shape, based on reciprocity, equality and sustainable impact.