Michael Ashwin Satyandre Adhin (born 10 June 1980) is a Surinamese educator, politician, and was the
Vice President of Suriname
The vice president of Suriname ( nl, Vicepresident van de Republiek Suriname) is the second-highest political position in Suriname, after the president. The president and the vice president are elected by the National Assembly for five-year ter ...
between 2015
and 2020. He is a member of the
National Democratic Party.
At the age of 35, he became the youngest vice president in the history of Suriname to lead the Council of Ministers.
Adhin is a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
of
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
descent.
In July 2013, Adhin became Minister of Education in the cabinet of President
Dési Bouterse
Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...
, replacing Shirley Sitaldin. After the
2015 Surinamese general election
General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2015. The National Democratic Party won an absolute majority on its own for the first time.
Electoral system
The 51 seats in the National Assembly were elected using proportional representation ...
, in which Adhin was elected to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
for the electoral district of Paramaribo, he was inaugurated as vice president on 12 August 2015,
[ and served until 16 July 2020. Adhin was succeeded by ]Ronnie Brunswijk
Ronnie Brunswijk (; born 7 March 1961) is a Surinamese politician, businessman, footballer, convicted drug trafficker, former rebel leader, and the current Vice President of Suriname. Brunswijk served in the early 1980s as the personal bodyguard ...
.
Early life and career
Education
Adhin obtained a BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in Electrical Engineering (Information Technology) from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Anton de Kom University ( nl, Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname) is the only university in Suriname. It is located in the capital, Paramaribo, and named for Anton de Kom, an anti-colonialist activist who was killed by the Nazis while in exi ...
(AdeKUS) in 2001, and subsequently a Dutch Engineers's degree (Ir.) in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications) from the Delft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...
in 2004.
Before embarking on a political career, he served as an educator at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Anton de Kom University ( nl, Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname) is the only university in Suriname. It is located in the capital, Paramaribo, and named for Anton de Kom, an anti-colonialist activist who was killed by the Nazis while in exi ...
.
Chair Cultural Union Suriname (CUS)
In May 2011 Adhin was appointed the new chairman of the Cultural Union Suriname and remained onboard until February 2014. Adhin who has been active within social cultural organizations for the past 13 years, remains to place emphasis on the importance of the role of culture for development, consciousness creation, appreciation of one's heritage, and for stimulating the achievement of common goals through active and collective participation of individuals. It was his leadership qualities during the preparation of the 140 years Indian Immigration national festivities, which caught the attention of President Bouterse
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, who later on appointed him Minister of Education and Community Development in July 2013. Adhin has also been an active member of the Vishva Hindu Parishad
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...
Suriname and foundation Mata Gauri.
Minister of Education and Community Development
From 2013 to 2015 Adhin served as Minister of Education and Community Development. He announced a total restructuring of the Ministry to improve the results within the education sector in Suriname.
Suriname National Training Authority
In August 2013 Adhin launched the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) method of education in Suriname. A taskforce was installed on November 1, 2013, to work towards the establishment of a National Training Authority making use of an existing Caricom strategy. This national authority was to be responsible for closing the gap between the education system and the demand of the private sector labor markets, the certification of various professions as well as the quality assurance of courses within the Suriname education system.
ICT in Education
In October 2014 Adhin introduced two ICT in Education courses, amongst which a 3 years course leading to the Bachelor in Education (B.ed) degree. The courses are meant to target educators and are in line with Adhin's policy priorities to upgrade and professionalize the sector and to prepare for technological developments and challenges within education in general. He brought international professionals on board to realize the plans within a period of 4 months.
Pre-College Bridging Institute and Evening School
In April 2015 Adhin officially launched the opening of Suriname's first pre-college Bridging Institute increasing the opportunities for more students to attend pre-college. The opening and launch of the Evening Pre-College also served the same purpose.
Young Entrepreneurship
As minister of education Adhin created opportunities for young entrepreneurs to invest in themselves, with the establishment of the Suriname National Training Authority, as well as several ICT training courses.
Vice President of Suriname
Foreign policy
Relations with India
On January 9, 2017, Vice President Adhin met with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, in Bengaluru
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, India, where they discussed strengthening the economic and technological bilateral cooperation between both states. Adhin emphasized that Suriname has a lot to of potential in the areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, palm oil, wood processing, besides those in the extractive industries (gold, crude oil and bauxite). Adhin's plans are to set up a chair on Ayurveda at the University of Suriname and National Institute for Natural and Holistic Therapies in collaboration with India. His plans include setting up medicinal plantations, research laboratories, factories to manufacture Ayurveda products for the Surinamese market and expanding to also cover the Latin American countries and Caribbean Islands. This vision of Adhin supports efforts to diversify the Surinamese economy but also the governments approach to make healthcare the most important priority. This latter is also emphasized by the Governments Health in All Policies (HIAP) programme.
As a young accomplished individual of Indian origin, Adhin was invited to India as keynote speaker at the Youth Privasi Bharatiya Divas Convention held on January 7, 2016, which was part of the annua
Privasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention
a global platform for Indian Diaspora held from 8–9 January 2017 in Bengaluru, the capital of the state of Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
.
2020 Elections
Adhin has been elected to the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
in 2020 according to the official results. Adhin was not a candidate for the 2020 Vice Presidency, and no other candidates other than Brunswijk had been nominated as per 8 July 2020, 15:00 (UTC−3). Therefore Ronnie Brunswijk
Ronnie Brunswijk (; born 7 March 1961) is a Surinamese politician, businessman, footballer, convicted drug trafficker, former rebel leader, and the current Vice President of Suriname. Brunswijk served in the early 1980s as the personal bodyguard ...
was elected as his successor on 13 July in an uncontested election
An uncontested election is an election in which the number of candidates is the same as or fewer than the number of places available for election, so that all candidates are guaranteed to be elected. An uncontested single-winner election is one w ...
. Adhin's term as vice president ended on 16 July 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adhin, Ashwin
1980 births
Living people
Government ministers of Suriname
Members of the National Assembly (Suriname)
National Democratic Party (Suriname) politicians
Surinamese Hindus
Surinamese politicians
Surinamese people of Indian descent
Vice presidents of Suriname
Surinamese politicians of Indian descent