Belize City’s Schools Shutdown Due To Protest

With most of the nation’s teachers away in Belmopan, students in Belize City got a day-off. Our tour of the Old Capital found that many schools, like Saint Joseph’s R.C. Primary School, were completely closed. Some others were partially open, but there were no teachers in sight. The Ministry of Education and Minister Patrick Faber had promised right up to the end of last week that the ministry would do all in its power to keep schools open today. However, President of the National Teacher’s Union Luke Palacio told us that today’s protest was a one-day affair and teachers had never promised to stay out of school for long. In fact they will be back in school on Tuesday.