The introduction of teaching in the mother tongue, Papiamento, in primary schools in the former Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao is described and evaluated. The introduction of mother tongue teaching is seen by its proponents as a means to facilitate students' learning. At the same time it is meant to strengthen the Curaçaoan cultural identity. Proponents of mother tongue education have not welcomed evaluative studies of mother tongue programmes. They fear that such studies will show that programmes are not being implemented as planned, and this might be used as an argument against further implementation. Still, evaluation is a necessary stage in improving newly developed educational programmes.