Education Reference Center Launched
Have you considered studying in the United States? Well, your opportunity to do so just became easier. Today, the U.S Embassy and the Leo Bradley Library teamed up to open a reference center. The programme, sponsored by the U.S Department of State, is hoping to reach as many people as possible, including students. The center, equipped with Kindles and other resource materials, will make information accessible for those interested in studying abroad. New Five’s Andrea Polanco was at the opening and got a first look at the reference center today.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
The Education U.S.A Reference Center was opened today at the Leo Bradley Library in Belize City. The center, which is a first for Belize, is a part of a world-wide initiative. The goal is to get more students to study in the U.S.
Carlos Moreno
Carlos Moreno, U.S Ambassador to Belize
“This is the first U.S.A. Reference center in Belize and this is the first step to facilitate study in the United States. Last year, three hundred and twenty four students travelled from Belize to the United States to study. I was looking at some data last week; many of those students went to universities in Florida, California and New York and other states. These are students who are Belizean students and I personally would like to see that number increase. I expect that with the opening of this center we will see that number increase to a much, much bigger figure.”
The center will be manned by two trained advisers and fitted with equipment to facilitate research for educational opportunities. It will serve as a main hub for information needed to pursue studies in the United States.
Joy Ysaguirre
Joy Ysaguirre, Chief Librarian, Leo Bradley Library
“Our role is to facilitate, first of all, having the center here…being able to assist the students. We work on the principle that the students will come here any way to do research. It is on that basis that we feel that we can make a significant contribution in encouraging the direction really for further education.”
Andrea Polanco
“So, I know that there are two advisers who will be assisting the students. They represent the library?”
Joy Ysaguirre
“Yes. They represent the library and they have been trained by the U.S Embassy in fulfilling this role and in being able to give advise that is necessary for the Belizean applicant to move forward in this direction.”
Carlos Moreno
“This reference center is going to make it much easier for you to learn about educational opportunities in the United States. It will feature full internet access and you can search any college; you don’t have to write a letter and wait weeks to get a catalogue back. It’s going to provide you with reference books and materials needed to apply to study at universities and colleges in the U.S. It will also tell you about regularly scheduled public orientations on U.S. Study, information on financial aid, departure information and so forth.”
As a part of today’s launch, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the library and the U.S. Embassy.
Joy Ysaguirre
“The M.O.U. generally provides for sustaining the center at the library and that it is adequately resourced. Apart from being resourced the ability for us to maintain trends and current educational trends in the U.S. That’s basically what that the MOU will cover.”
The center can be accessed by anyone wishing to gather information for undergraduate and graduate level studies in the U.S. Reporting for News Five, I am Andrea Polanco.
