St. Maarten's slavery History missing from shared school examination requirements

THE HAGUE--The stories of people who resisted slavery and colonial rule remain largely overlooked in school history lessons across the Netherlands and the Caribbean islands of the Dutch Kingdom, according to a new government-commissioned study that found significant gaps in how students are taught about their own freedom fighters.

Among the findings is that St. Maarten's slavery history is absent from the shared secondary school history examination requirements used by St. Maarten and Curaçao, while local resistance figures such as One-Tété Lohkay have yet to secure a permanent place in the standard curriculum.

The findings are contained in a research report titled "Vergeten Verhalen, Verzwegen Verleden" (Forgotten Stories, Silenced Past), prepared by the Verwey-Jonker Institute, Movisie and the University of Aruba, with contributions from researchers and educators throughout the islands.

The report examines how anticolonial resistance heroes and freedom fighters are represented in primary, secondary and special education across the European Netherlands and the six Dutch Caribbean islands: St. Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius.

The investigation was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science following a 2022 parliamentary motion initiated by former Dutch Member of Parliament Sylvana Simons, who called for greater recognition of anticolonial resistance figures in Dutch history education.

The completed research was submitted to the Dutch Parliament as part of an October 12, 2026, government update on measures addressing the Netherlands' slavery past.

The central finding is that while schools teach aspects of slavery and colonialism, the people who fought against those systems receive considerably less attention. Their personal histories, motivations, acts of resistance and contributions to emancipation are often missing or presented without sufficient context.

Researchers also found that history education frequently approaches colonialism from a Dutch or European perspective, placing greater emphasis on European abolitionists and colonial developments than on the struggles of enslaved people to secure their own freedom.

St. Maarten's History Missing from Examination Requirements

One of the findings particularly relevant to St. Maarten concerns the history examination requirements adopted jointly by Curaçao and St. Maarten in 2019.

According to the researchers, these requirements place considerable emphasis on Curaçao's experience with slavery and colonialism, including the 1795 uprising led by Tula, but contain no corresponding treatment of St. Maarten's own slavery history.

The report notes that St. Maarten's Dutch-language havo and vwo history education follows examination requirements developed for Curaçao, with examinations also supplied from that island.

Consequently, students encounter compulsory material concerning Curaçao's colonial history, the West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant and Tula's resistance, without equivalent requirements concerning St. Maarten's historical experience.

The researchers identify this as an example of a broader problem affecting the Dutch Caribbean, where educational systems and teaching materials do not consistently reflect the histories of the individual islands.

The study also highlights the limited place given to St. Maarten's own resistance figures.

Among them is One-Tété Lohkay, remembered for repeatedly escaping enslavement and resisting colonial oppression. The researchers note that despite her importance in local historical memory, her story has not become a standard component of history education.

Other examples include the Freedom Runners, enslaved people who escaped from the Dutch side of St. Maarten in pursuit of freedom, including across the border to the French side.

However, the research does acknowledge that some St. Maarten teachers are making efforts to address these omissions.

Students interviewed during the investigation were familiar with One-Tété Lohkay, One-Eyed Jack and local monuments commemorating slavery and emancipation, including the Freedom Fighters monument in Philipsburg.

Some also recalled the history of Diamond Estate and the escape of 26 enslaved people across the island's border after emancipation on the French side in 1848.

These examples demonstrate that local history is being taught in some classrooms, but the researchers warn that this often depends on individual teachers rather than established curriculum requirements.

Students expressed an interest in learning more about the history of slavery and resistance on their own island.

Tula Dominates Caribbean Resistance History

Across the Dutch Caribbean, the study found that Tula, who led the 1795 uprising against slavery on Curaçao, is the principal resistance figure consistently represented in educational materials.

While his historical importance is widely recognized, the researchers found that the emphasis on Tula often comes at the expense of other resistance fighters from the six islands.

Stories of resistance on Bonaire, Aruba, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten receive considerably less attention.

The report identifies examples of resistance that are largely missing from regular classroom instruction, including an uprising on St. Eustatius in 1688, an attempted escape by enslaved people from Saba to Puerto Rico in 1656, and resistance involving enslaved workers in Bonaire's salt industry.

Researchers also found that students on Bonaire and Aruba who participated in the study generally struggled to identify local resistance fighters or specific acts of resistance from their own islands.

In several cases, students knew about slavery as an institution but had limited knowledge of those who challenged it within their own communities.

Women Freedom Fighters Particularly Overlooked

The study raises concerns about the limited attention given to women who resisted slavery and colonialism.

Across the resistance figures identified in the Caribbean portion of the research, 30 named individuals were men, compared with only seven women. Of those, just three women and twelve men were identified as resistance figures from the six Dutch Caribbean islands themselves.

The researchers argue that this imbalance contributes to an incomplete understanding of the role women played in challenging colonial authority, securing freedom and shaping Caribbean history.

The absence of women such as One-Tété Lohkay from standard educational materials is presented as an example of why more historical research and changes to school curricula are needed.

The report recommends that future educational materials provide more balanced attention to male and female resistance figures and explore the different forms resistance took, including escape, organized rebellion, cultural preservation and political activism.

Dutch Textbooks Also Found Lacking

The research found similar shortcomings in the European Netherlands.

Researchers examined 108 educational books from three major Dutch publishers, with 77 selected for more detailed analysis after an initial review.

Although anticolonial resistance appears in some materials, historical figures such as Sukarno, Mohammed Hatta, Boni, Tula and Anton de Kom are often mentioned only briefly, with limited explanation of their backgrounds, motivations or actual resistance activities.

The researchers also noted that Dutch and European historical figures associated with colonialism and its criticism frequently receive more detailed treatment than the people who directly resisted enslavement and colonial domination.

Even Anton de Kom, the Surinamese anticolonial writer and resistance figure included in the Canon of the Netherlands, does not consistently receive substantial attention in the teaching materials examined.

Interviews with educators and young people in the Netherlands reinforced these findings.

Students indicated that they were more familiar with internationally recognized figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela than with resistance heroes connected to the Netherlands' own colonial history.

The researchers concluded that students often encounter these stories outside the classroom rather than through structured history education.

Teachers Lack Materials and Support

Another major finding concerns the challenges teachers face when attempting to provide more comprehensive lessons about slavery and resistance.

Throughout the Dutch Caribbean, educators reported difficulties obtaining current, reliable teaching materials that reflect the history of the islands where they work.

Schools frequently depend on combinations of Dutch textbooks, English-language Caribbean publications and locally developed resources.

Dutch textbooks tend to emphasize the Netherlands' colonial history in Indonesia and Suriname, while English-language Caribbean materials focus more extensively on developments in the wider Caribbean, including the Haitian Revolution and resistance movements in former British colonies.

Although these subjects are important, researchers found that the combination often leaves students without sufficient instruction about the history of their own islands.

The report also identifies the limited availability of locally developed materials, insufficient teacher training and the different educational systems operating throughout the Dutch Caribbean as obstacles to improving history education.

Teachers who attempt to introduce additional local content frequently do so through their own initiative, using historical sites, monuments, community experts, documentaries and independent research.

Researchers Call for Changes to History Education

The study recommends greater cooperation among the six Dutch Caribbean islands to develop teaching materials that place local experiences of slavery, colonialism and resistance within the broader history of the Caribbean and the Kingdom.

Among the proposals is the establishment of a Dutch Caribbean knowledge network focused on education, slavery history and its continuing consequences.

The researchers also recommend revising curriculum objectives to ensure that students learn about local male and female resistance figures, developing updated educational resources and creating a shared digital collection of historical material.

Greater use of oral history, family histories, museums, monuments and community knowledge is also encouraged.

The report calls for additional professional development for teachers and closer collaboration among researchers, educational institutions and local communities.

It emphasizes that students should learn not only about the suffering caused by slavery, but also about the determination, resistance and actions of those who challenged the system.

The Dutch government has indicated that it is examining whether the study's recommendations can be incorporated into future educational policy. No decision to implement the proposed reforms was announced in the October 12 update.

For the Dutch Caribbean, the findings raise wider questions about whose stories are preserved in school curricula and whether students are receiving a sufficiently complete account of their own history.

The research concludes that while the stories of resistance heroes and freedom fighters have not entirely disappeared from classrooms, their treatment remains fragmented, uneven and often dependent on the dedication of individual teachers.

For St. Maarten and the other islands, the report identifies an opportunity to ensure that future generations learn not only how slavery operated, but also how people within their own communities resisted it and contributed to the struggle for freedom.

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