Papiamento in Grade 1 of all primary schools
ORANJESTAD - As part of the new language policy, literacy in Papiamento will be officially introduced in Grade 1 of all primary schools in the 2024-2025 school year so that children learn to read and write in Papiamento.
The language will have a new approach, more adapted to the context of our children. Meanwhile, all Grade 1 teachers and primary school principals have been prepared and have attended a professionalization course.
During this course, they covered the following topics:
- Core methods of language and communication;
- knowledge of the material;
- didactics of the mother tongue and foreign languages;
- proficiency in Papiamento.
In addition, the government allocated approximately 1.2 million florins to develop new materials.
These materials have been printed in the Netherlands and distributed to all primary schools.
Several international studies on this topic, including a 2021 World Bank report, have concluded that students need instruction in their mother tongue during the early years. The 2016 UNESCO report titled "If you don't understand, how can you learn?" addressed this topic.
Our professionals have used these reports, conducted research in Aruba, and arrived at the same conclusion as the international reports.
