Students Hold Mature Children’s Parliament Debate

Lily Pike

Belize’s elected parliamentarians oftentimes get a bad rap for unsavory comments towards each other and the general manner in which they conduct themselves during national debates in the House of Representatives. Today, high school and tertiary level students held a debate of their own on the topic Vocational Education Development and conducted themselves in a manner that our real parliamentarians may want to strive for. But while the youth’s behavior was collectively on point, so were their arguments for the passage of the bill, or at least a simulated passage of it. Student Leader of the Opposition, Lily Pike, opened up the debate.

Lily Pike, Student LOO, Student’s Parliament

“Shall this town plan adding another high school while also making a brand new tertiary-level institution? Not only does this island not have the funding to do so, it does not have the population. On Caye Caulker there is a total of two thousand people. It simply does not make sense. I prefer a compromise. Why create something from scratch when you can instead develop what we already have. In quite a few institutions in Belize, these courses have already been embedded into their curriculum. You know these as technical schools, such as IT-VET, Orange Walk Technical High School, and Ladyville Technical High. By providing accessibility and education, we not only help those who are not academically inclined, we also give a chance to those who love academic school to continue their education. Technical schools are available, they just need to be better. If we change our focus to them, we begin to give every student, whether they prefer academic or technical education the opportunity to learn