Education in Aruba: A Path to Progress and Cultural Preservation

In early 19th-century Aruba, only two schools served the entire island. A local proverb warned that reading could drive people mad.

Those two schools drew a sharp line through the community. The public school taught in Dutch and followed a Protestant curriculum. The Roman Catholic school used Spanish. Neither taught in the language most Arubans spoke at home — Papiamento. That early division between the language of the classroom and the language of daily life has never fully closed. Today, nearly 70 percent of Arubans speak Papiamento as their mother tongue, but Dutch remains the official language of instruction in most secondary schools, according to the Government of Aruba’s Education Directorate.

This article traces how Aruba’s education system grew from those two colonial classrooms into a multilingual, internationally-connected network of primary schools, vocational programs, and universities — and why the question of which language children learn in remains the most contested issue in Aruban education today.

Quick reference: Key moments in Aruban education

Note: The National Education Plan 2007–2017 was initiated in late 2005 by then-Minister of Education Marisol Lopez-Tromp, responding to a need identified by the Department of Education of Aruba (DEA).

The language question: Dutch, Papiamento, and the classroom

The single most consequential policy debate in Aruban education revolves around language. Dutch is the language of instruction in most schools, a legacy of Aruba’s status as a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. But Papiamento — a creole language drawing from Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and African languages — is what most Arubans speak at home. According to the 2000 census, nearly 70 percent of the population claimed Papiamento as their first language.

In 1999, the government approved a proposal to introduce Papiamento as both the language of instruction and a school subject in primary education, up to and including fourth grade. Dutch would remain the second language of instruction. The project launched as a pilot in three public primary schools. It was part of a broader 1999–2008 strategic plan for restructuring pre-primary, primary, and special education that acknowledged the gap between the sociolinguistic reality of Aruba and the Dutch-centered curriculum.

The Prisma project, launched in the early 1990s, tackled a related problem: children who arrived at school without Dutch fluency. Originally designed to help non-Dutch-speaking lateral entrants, it expanded to all public primary schools and now supports any child — including Aruban-born children — who needs help with Dutch. A group of teachers received special training for the program.

The results of the Papiamento-as-instruction-language pilot remain limited in scale. The policy was approved and implemented in three pilot schools, but Dutch still dominates secondary education. The question of whether Papiamento can — or should — become the primary language of instruction across all grade levels is still actively debated among educators, parents, and policymakers in Aruba.

From two schools to a system: Aruba’s educational history

For most of the 19th century, formal education in Aruba was sparse. The island’s economy was based on small-scale agriculture, salt mining, and trade, and day-to-day life for most islanders was slow-paced. Reading was uncommon. The two schools that existed — one Protestant-Dutch in Oranjestad, one Catholic-Spanish elsewhere — reflected the colonial and religious divisions of the time.

By the late 1800s, nuns had taken over most teaching responsibilities. Schools opened in Noord and Santa Cruz, and these began replacing Spanish with Papiamento as the language of instruction. A small Protestant school was founded in Piedra Plat, northeast of Hoiberg hill. In 1894, the Arubasche Courant was founded, marking the beginning of Aruba’s print media tradition. The island’s first native Antillean poet, Mosa Lampe, wrote letters in Dutch and composed Dutch poetry during this period, as documented in Hartog’s writings on Aruban history.

The arrival of the oil industry in 1924 transformed education on the island. Eagle and Lago Petroleum Corporation brought a modern refinery and a demand for skilled labor. Lago Oil Company launched an apprenticeship program that taught young men English, mechanical skills, and technical trades — arguably the most consequential vocational education initiative in Aruba’s history. Aruba’s first formal trade school opened in 1952, building on the foundation laid by the oil companies.

Libraries, bookshops, and a reading culture

In 1905, a library was established in Aruba. It started with 12 members and functioned as a subsection of the Curaçao Library, part of the Netherlands Antilles branch of the Algemeen Nederlands Verbond (Universal Dutch Association). The City of Rotterdam donated nearly 500 books to the founding collection. For decades, the library remained small — by mid-century it circulated roughly 15,921 books.

That changed dramatically in the 1950s and 1960s. The Public Library’s circulation rose to over 60,000 books — more than one book per resident — and the library moved to a larger building in Oranjestad. In September 1959, a branch library opened in San Nicolas, quickly developing into a full public library with dedicated sections for adults and children.

Aruba Boekhandel (Aruba Bookshop) began as a single small business in the 1950s and eventually expanded to five separate shops. Unlike bookstores in the Netherlands, Aruba’s shops also sold toys and other non-literary items — a strategy that helped attract customers and boost book sales. Within ten years, book turnover had increased to nearly four times what it had been in 1950. Magazines imported from the United States had a monthly circulation of roughly 30,000 copies. Dutch books, particularly those available through the Public Library, consistently outsold English titles.

Higher education and global connections

Aruba’s higher education landscape is small but internationally connected. The University of Aruba (UA) in Oranjestad and the Aruba University of Technology (AUT) are the main institutions. UA receives Erasmus+ grants, linking it to European mobility and exchange programs. Degree programs use both European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and US-credit counts — a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management, for example, runs 3 years at 180 ECTS (108 US credits), while a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work runs 4 years at 240 ECTS. Tuition commonly runs $250–$350 per credit hour.

Xavier University School of Medicine in Santa Cruz offers medical programs and draws international students. The academic year runs September to June, with semester examples showing 15-week terms. Student visa applications require a DINA form, passport copy, four photos, a birth certificate with apostille, a police certificate with apostille, post-arrival medical clearance, and proof of health insurance. Proof of funds of roughly $15,000 per year is standard.

The EducationUSA Advising Center in Oranjestad provides in-person guidance on admissions, credit transfer, and visa steps. Located at Stadionweg 37, it is open Monday through Thursday 8:00–11:30 and 13:00–15:30.

Context and comparison: Language models in Aruban classrooms

Each approach reflects a different answer to the same question: what language gives a child the best chance in Aruba’s society and economy?

The Dutch-only model offers the clearest pathway to higher education in the Netherlands and to positions in government and law, where Dutch fluency is required. The Papiamento pilot aims to strengthen early literacy and cultural identity. The Prisma project is a pragmatic response to a classroom reality where children arrive with different language backgrounds. English-medium programs serve students aiming for careers in tourism, international business, and medicine. None of these approaches has fully replaced the others — they coexist, sometimes uneasily, within the same system.

Questions readers ask about education in Aruba

Is Dutch the only language used in Aruban schools?

No. Dutch is the primary language of instruction in most secondary schools, but primary schools have been piloting Papiamento as the language of instruction through fourth grade. English is used in some vocational and university programs. Most Arubans speak at least four languages: Papiamento, Dutch, English, and Spanish.

Can international students study at Aruban universities?

Yes. University of Aruba and Xavier University School of Medicine accept international students. Visa requirements include a DINA form, passport copy, four photos, a birth certificate with apostille, a police certificate with apostille, and proof of funds of roughly $15,000 per year. The EducationUSA Advising Center in Oranjestad provides guidance on the process.

Is education in Aruba free?

Public primary and secondary education is funded by the government, but families pay for materials, uniforms, and sometimes extracurricular programs. Higher education charges tuition — typically $250–$350 per credit hour at UA. Some scholarships and Erasmus+ grants are available.

Why don’t Aruban schools teach in Papiamento if most people speak it at home?

This is the most debated question in Aruban education policy. Dutch is the language of government, law, and higher education in the Netherlands, and fluency in Dutch is seen as essential for social mobility. But critics argue that teaching children in a language they don’t speak at home slows early literacy and weakens cultural identity. The pilot program to teach in Papiamento through fourth grade was an attempt to address this — but it has not been scaled system-wide.

What is the National Education Plan 2030?

The Plan Educacion Nacional 2030 (PEN 2030) is Aruba’s current strategic education framework, aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to provide a vision for quality education that is future-proof. The plan was commissioned by the Minister of Education, Science and Sustainable Development and builds on lessons from the first National Education Plan (2007–2017).

What Aruba’s education story reveals

The history of education in Aruba is not a story of steady progress from illiteracy to enlightenment. It is a story of competing priorities — colonial languages vs. local languages, vocational training vs. academic education, global mobility vs. cultural preservation. The two schools of the early 1800s taught in Dutch and Spanish, not Papiamento. The trade school of 1952 taught English and mechanics, not literature. The university of today teaches in Dutch and English, with Papiamento still fighting for space in the primary grades.

What makes Aruba’s case unusual is not the tension itself — every post-colonial education system navigates some version of it — but the transparency with which the tension is acknowledged in policy documents. The 1999–2008 strategic plan named the gap between home language and school language directly. The PEN 2030 framework ties education to sustainable development, not just economic output. And the Prisma project, now in every public primary school, is a quiet admission that the Dutch-only model has never fully worked for all children.

For a deeper look at how Aruban culture and community structures have shaped daily life beyond the classroom, read our guide on family and community as the pillars of Aruban society.

Sources and further reading

Government of Aruba, Education Directorate. “Education in Aruba.” 🔗

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. “Aruba — Education and Literacy.” 🔗

Aruba Today. “Episode CCCXXII: Aruba’s Journey Through Education and Culture.” 🔗

Educations.com. “Education System in Aruba.” 🔗

Related reading on IslandHopperGuides

Cunucu Houses: Architecture as a Window into Aruba’s Past — How vernacular architecture reflects Aruba’s social and educational history.

Aruba’s Afro-Caribbean Rhythms — Musical traditions that have been passed down through generations, often outside formal education.

Sustainable Aruba: Protecting Culture and Environment — How education intersects with environmental and cultural sustainability efforts.