They did not graduate 20, the number was 30, and the reason they are a prep school is that Directie Onderwijs, the Department of Education dragged its feet about a 200-page report that outlined the school’s plan to make itself sustainable.
Apparently, the report handed in a long time ago, contained a detailed financial plan to attract international students for a fully accredited Bachelor of Art program.
The academy was supposed to offer locals and international students an opportunity to complete their academic studies, with a roster of 140 students the school would have a balance budget, not making money, but fully self-sustainable.
Alas, the paper-pushers sat on the report and the academy modeled after a famous Dutch art school, Rietveld Academy, got downgraded to a prep school, waiting for the green light which never came.
And that is why our TV station produces such lame programs
Our shops have such poor displays
We have no art galleries
Little artsy souvenirs made in Aruba
We all like to go to museums and sip champagne at art openings, front row at fashion shows, but we forget there is serious work to be done behind the scenes in order to create an interesting platform, such as Art Basel in Miami Beach, a major tourist attraction which starts with the availability of art education.
The school also shared its concerns about what it called the BRAIN DRAIN, the phenomenon that leads to the disillusionment of the island’s best students when they go to the Netherlands for higher University educations ill-prepared, and fail, returning to Aruba heart-broken and discouraged. Those who succeed against the odds, never return.
