School of Nursing to join University of Belize
The government is forging ahead with its plans for a university of Belize, which will incorporate several tertiary level institutions. But while plans may look good on paper, carrying them out is an entirely different matter. The proposed deadline is just over a year away in August of 2000. Today the Belize School of Nursing launched its efforts to become part of U.B. Janelle Chanona was on hand to hear the optimism, and the concerns.
Syringa Marshall Burnett, University of the West Indies
“As nurses and midwives are really the backbone of the health service, we have to prepare them in the best possible way.”
After many failed attempts, a substantial difference in health care of Belize is just what the Ministry of Health and the Belize School of Nursing is hoping to achieve. But this will require an upgrade in nurses training that government believes cannot be carried out by the present school of nursing. The school will become part of the University of Belize, along with the University College of Belize, the Belize Technical College, the Belize College of Agriculture and the Belize Teachers Training College. A similar amalgamation was proposed in the past.
Patricia Beet, Principal Tutor, Belize School of Nursing
“Early in the eighties, we began to move our education into that system. However the conditions were not conducive and so we had to you know, retract a little on our pace but this time I think we’re going to make it.”
But even this latest attempt has not been without controversy as members of the various institutions are uncertain about the move from public to private sector and how this will affect their job security. The Minister of Health spoke about the primary fears.
Servulo Baeza, Minister of Health
“I would not be so versed in terms of the details financially but I know that there are two major concerns. One, well, the transition of a public servant into the setting of, now the university of Belize, in terms of any broken service and things like that and I know those are things that are being looked at and secondly, is the actual level of training that our tutors have right now. Some of them will not fit in to the setting of a university, and some of them will not have the necessary qualifications for them to be recognized as lecturers.”
The consultant from the University of the West Indies will be in the country until Friday, discussing and planning the administrative structure of the University of Belize and its proposed curriculum.
An array of committees have been formed to make sure that all concerns are addressed. Some employees from the Ministry of Health have also applied for study leave so that when the University of Belize is launched in August 2000, the transition will not be so difficult. The University of Belize will be comprised of the Belize Technical College, the Belize College of Agriculture, the Belize Teacher’s Training College, the University College of Belize and the Belize School of Nursing.
