Avalon University School of Medicine is blessed to call the beautiful island of Curaçao our home and is lucky to have a wonderful relationship with members of the Curaçao government.

We are happy to introduce you to a dear friend of the university, Minister of Education: Minister Sithree van Heydoorn. Some of Avalon’s top faculty and staff recently had the opportunity to meet with the Curaçao government’s Minister of Education. In this meeting they were inspired by the story of his personal journey, and gained a deeper appreciation for the Curaçao government’s Minister of Education

From Left to Right: Dr. Sateesh Arja, Minister Sithree van Heydoorn, Dr. Shokat Fatteh, Ms. Sherissa Marinus

Sithree van Heydoorn, was born in Curaçao, the eldest son from a humble family who at an early age had to join the work field while attending school so as to help out at home.

After finishing his Secondary Education, he started working at the Water and Power Company of Curaçao, in the accounting department. He followed various courses in ICT and has good knowledge in this area. Based on this, he was asked to help in the startup of the ICT Department and he was member of the project team responsible for the first Fiber Optic Network project of Aqualectra, of which he was the second in command overseeing the execution of this.

In this position, he was responsible for overseeing, designing, setting up, and supervising the entire IT infrastructure of Aqualectra. He did research into possible automation of processes and associated costs and benefits for Grammar/Secondary schools in the country.

Minister Sithree van Heydoorn

His core qualities are being innovative, a team player, sensitive to his surroundings, having a critical outlook towards issues, is structured, communicates well, and above all taking a problem-solving approach to situations.

Politics is a longtime area of interest for him. He was a member of Parliament of Curaçao, currently party president and advisor of the Parliament members of his political party MFK (Movementu Futuro Kòrsou), and now proudly holds the position of Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Curaçao.

He firmly believes in giving every young person and child the possibility to achieve and develop their potential to the maximum of their ability and is very proud to serve his country.

Avalon wishes to offer its most sincere thank you to the Minister of Education and the Curaçao government for their support.