60 tablet computers for outstanding teachers and Digital Learning Center
On Wednesday, the government of Taiwan handed over three projects to the Ministry of Natural Resources; today it was the Ministry of Education that benefitted from Taiwan’s generosity. It received sixty computers which went to some deserving teachers and for a learning center at the E.P. Yorke High School. Duane Moody has that story.
Duane Moody, Reporting
A hefty donation of sixty tablet computers was handed over to the Ministry of Education. The donation will be split in two: some deserving teachers will be awarded the Asus Vivo Tab Computers and the remaining computers will be used to set up a Digital Learning Center at the E.P. Yorke High School. The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan), RESTORE Belize and the Ministry of Education teamed up to make the project possible. It is a celebration of the friendship and bond between Belize and Taiwan.
David Wu, Ambassador, Republic of China (Taiwan)
David Wu
“It is indeed a delightful occasion to see all these thirty outstanding teachers recommended by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Today, I am very honored to represent one of the two most popular computer makers in Taiwan, ASUS—another one is ACER. Asus donate these sixty tablet computers to us and asked my embassy to make the best use of it. Two years ago, we donated two hundred and fifty computers, laptops, to ITVET and those computers were used by six ITVETs countrywide and last year we donated one hundred laptop computers to RESTORE Belize. And RESTORE Belize used them for community teaching centers.”
The teachers were selected based on their outstanding qualities and teaching skill.
David Leacock
David Leacock, C.E.O., Ministry of Education
“We have identified these teachers as beneficiaries because they already exhibited the qualities of good teachers. They exhibited competence in the mastery of the content that they were teaching and in the skill of teaching. But I would like to also add something that the Ambassador referred to a while ago; the heart. And those values that he spoke of: the honesty, the respect and the desire to serve. An education is something that no one can take away from you. And the true friendship that we have with the government and people of Taiwan is marked by that kind of support that gives us the kind of things that no one can take away from us. The contribution that they have made to our Belize in the education sector is immeasurable.”
According to Director of RESTORE Belize, Mary Vasquez, this donation—like the many others that have been made to the agency since its inception in 2010—will further assist with the fight against the crime.
Mary Vasquez, Director, RESTORE Belize
Mary Vasquez
“It is a challenging, but beautiful role that RESTORE Belize has. It is challenging because the roots of crime are many and they are interrelated in complex ways that can be difficult to unravel and to overcome. But our role is also beautiful because of the true partnerships that we create. Partnerships that enable us to face challenges that otherwise seem insurmountable. As we receive this gift from the Asus Foundation to enhance education in Belize, we are very grateful to have this lucky role of building partnerships and delivering resources to build out nation. One year ago, we were in exactly this lucky position when we received a gift of one hundred computers and software from the Republic of China (Taiwan). That gift enabled us to begin a computer assisted literacy and numeracy program. Because of that generous and well-targeted donation, we now have seven established, computer-assisted learning sites serving a wide cross-section of children, teenagers and adults in primary, secondary and alternative education programs as well as in detention centers.”
The gift of the tab computers to the E.P. Yorke High School will allow the school to participate in a regional pilot project administered by CSEC to assist in preparing students for their Spanish language CSEC exams. Duane Moody for News Five.
