Children and school on Saba: English-language education, one primary school, one secondary school and $ 238 child benefit

Yes, your children can go to school on Saba, and the school is Dutch funded and supervised by the Inspectorate of Education. But whoever knows Bonaire must look again: on Saba and Sint Eustatius the language of instruction is English, Dutch is taught as a strong foreign language, and the secondary school works with the CXC system of the Caribbean Examinations Council instead of vmbo, havo and vwo. What it costs is mainly what you have to apply for: the child benefit of $ 238 per child per month does not come by itself, and childcare costs at most $ 75 a month in 2026. The trap is the scale: one primary school, one secondary school, and after that off the island.

How is education organised?

The RCN counts two schools on Saba, both in St. John's. The Sacred Heart Primary School is the Catholic primary school; the Saba Comprehensive School is the public secondary school, with also a vocational branch the Inspectorate assesses separately. The Ministry of Education has been responsible since 10 October 2010, the schools have been funded directly from the Netherlands since 2011, and the Inspectorate publishes its reports per school; the latest quality inspections date from February and March 2025. Dutch is in the programme more prominently than Spanish or French, because it counts for study in the Netherlands or work with the government, but a child coming from the Netherlands steps into an English-speaking class.

What is the CXC system?

A Caribbean system the RCN itself calls globally recognised, with progression to the region, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. In the lower years, the CCSLC, all pupils are together. Then the school splits: the academic track CSEC, comparable to the theoretical track or havo, and the vocational track CVQ, comparable to mbo; both take two years. Whoever wants to go to university follows two more years of CAPE after the CSEC, which the RCN compares to a vwo level of work and thinking and which gives access to academic education. For a family with a fifteen-year-old from a havo class that is the first question to the school: where does my child step in, and which exam is at the end.

How does compulsory education work?

As on Bonaire. The Compulsory Education Act BES applies to children from 4 to 16, after that the qualification obligation begins until a basic qualification or the eighteenth birthday, the Public Entity's attendance officer checks, and parents and young people from twelve risk a fine. One rule weighs more heavily on Saba than on Bonaire: whoever leaves the island with a school-age child outside the holidays must show a declaration of exemption, leave or relocation at the border, and on Saba every flight to family via Sint Maarten is such a border.

Item	Amount or deadline (2026)
Child benefit Saba	$ 238 per child per month (Bonaire $ 239, Sint Eustatius $ 227)
Applying for child benefit	by e-mail to the RCN unit SZW; legally at most 8 weeks
Retroactive effect child benefit	at most 12 months
Child benefit stops	in the month after the child turns 18
Parental contribution day care Saba, maximum number of sessions	$ 75 a month (Bonaire $ 100)
Parental contribution after-school care Saba	$ 40 a month
Parental contribution from 2027	4% of the cost of the care
Compulsory education	4 up to and including 16; qualification obligation to 18 or a basic qualification
Schools	one primary school, one secondary school, both in St. John's

What does it cost and what do you get?

The RCN unit SZW pays the child benefit monthly, without a means test, from the month in which you meet the conditions on the first day; whoever comes from the Netherlands sends the SVB's termination letter along, which speeds up processing. For childcare the Childcare Act BES has applied since 1 January 2026: the RCN pays a large part directly to the childcare provider, and the parental contribution on Saba and Sint Eustatius is lower than on Bonaire, $ 75 for day care and $ 40 for after-school care. Whoever cannot pay that applies for a child place subsidy at the Community Development & Culture department of the Public Entity.

Apply for the child benefit in the first weeks. The Dutch child benefit stopped at your deregistration, the Caribbean one only begins after an application, and twelve months' retroactive effect is the only leeway.

And when they go on to study?

Then they leave, because there is no university or college on the islands; the medical university on Saba trains students from the United States and Canada and is no follow-on from the Saba Comprehensive School. Whoever studies in the Caribbean, the United States or Canada applies for Student Finance BES at the RCN; whoever goes to the Netherlands gets ordinary student finance through DUO and in addition a one-off start-up allowance from the RCN. What else changes for the family, from healthcare to the safety net, is in the other articles; the order after arrival in your first weeks on Saba and on /saba.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Saba or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.