Caribbean High School principals gather in Belize
It may have been another weekend of shootings, stabbings, jackings and carnage on the nation’s highways…but we’ll open the week with some positive news as top educators from around the region gather in Belize City. Ann-Marie has the story.
Over fifty principals representing the English speaking Caribbean, all members of the Caribbean Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, CAPSS, are attending their 18th Biennial Conference being hosted in Belize. In his keynote address Education Minister Cordel Hyde said good secondary schools have good principals.
Cordel Hyde, Minister of Sports
“Our teachers have to embrace the philosophy that all our children are capable of learning. Every child must be given the attention he or she needs to succeed. Our teachers must focus on what children learn, rather than on what they think they are teaching. Our teachers have to get into the hearts and minds of our students. They have to understand who Charlie is and what his socio-economic background is. Only then can they help Charlie to overcome and advance. School administrators have to become more sensitive, more conscientious, more socially responsible.”
Environmental issues took center stage this morning during the first plenary for the weeklong event. Programme for Belize and the Belize Zoo made presentations to show visiting principals how local schools incorporate their natural environment into the curriculum. Brenda Armstrong, President of the Belize Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, BAPS, applauded the work that Programme for Belize is doing with the schools.
Brenda Armstrong, President, BAPS
“People come all the way from United States to get the education that is afforded there and so we would want to see more high schoolers get or take advantage of that programme, several schools already do it. When those students come back from the weekend at Hill Bank or at Rio Bravo they are changed. The bird watching experience, the night walk and I believe that is essentially what will make them take care of what Belize has.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“How do small island states like you cope which may not have the rich bio-diversity like Belize?”
Joy Brown, Principal, St. Vincent Girls High School
“We have Tobago Cayes which is a natural marine park and we have policies to conserve those as well. But our uphill task is to generate among our students who would be the generation that takes over, the kind of interest in what we do have and the need to conserve what we have. With development, we’re into bananas which is our main stay and they have been using spraying of the bananas to protect it from pest but in the process certain species I know of as a little girl has started to disappear.”
Species have also started to disappear in Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation known for petroleum and natural gas.
Jadego Maharag, Chaguanas Jr. Secondary School, Trinidad & Tobago
“So the danger of pollution in Trinidad is very high so there’s an environmental management agency that was set up by government about five years ago to ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations. From this we have lectures, discussions, agency has representatives that go from school to school to have lectures, discussions, films to sensitize students and teachers about the environment and the use of the environment.”
Joy Brown
“I see you’re doing this excellent Belize project. It’s really fascinating and certainly we’d like to take a leaf out of your book in terms of the conservation that you’re carrying on here in Belize.”
The conference is not only stressing environmental education. This afternoon’s forum examined several issues common to Caribbean schools such as school violence, how to make schools safe and
Brenda Armstrong
“Interventions for students who are weak in certain areas or needy in whatever. Interventions in the sense of remediation, whatever work we should be doing in order to ensure that the learner gets ahead. We cannot anymore talk about who can learn. Everybody can learn and I think our schools have to shift focus, and so I think that will come up today too, because that has been on our minds.”
Delegates will tour various parts of the country on Wednesday before winding up the conference on Friday night with a banquet.
