Education Ministry says Faith Mission in violation of Ed. Act
There is more to report on the ongoing troubles of the embattled Western Christian Academy. Today the teachers went on strike to have their principal reinstated. They went in masse to the Capital where they engaged in an impromptu meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education. The fate of the school is still up in the air, however, the teachers will go back to their classrooms at least until the end of the school year. According to the Ministry of Education, they have sent letters to Belize Faith Mission concerning violations and the closure of the school.
Arlette Gomez, P.R., M.O.E.
“We’ve written to her on May twenty-eighth and we’ve written to her again on ‘June first reminding her of the letter that we had sent her on the eighth and detailing to her what violations have occurred and how we expect them to be corrected. We’re hoping that she will comply.”
Jose Sanchez
“The violations themselves, what are you talking about?”
Arlette Gomez
“Well, basically we’re talking about not asking for the revocation of their license. They have tried to stop some of our District Education staff to speak with the teachers to gain access to their compound and they are in violation of the education act and rules. So we have highlighted some of those things to her and asked her to make corrections on those.”
Marlon Robinson, Teacher, Western Christian Academy
“We wanted our principal reinstated into her position as principal and for her to be allowed to teach her classes. The other issue is about our salaries. Our management has already informed us that they will not be paying us or vacation pay. We have decided and we have decided that we will deal with the salary issue at a different time and space because time being the factor, we need to dedicate ourselves to the children at this point and we have placed them first like always. We met with the C.E.O. at the Ministry of Education, Mr. David and it was made clear to us that there is nothing we can do at this time to have her reinstated.”
Jose Sanchez
“So you are going back to classes tomorrow?”
Marlon Robinson
“Yes, we want all parents to understand that we will be fully committed in the classrooms from now to June twentieth without any interruptions. We want them to have a peace of mind that we will be functioning.”
Jose Sanchez
“You will have graduation on the twentieth?”
Marlon Robinson
“Yes, graduation is still scheduled on the twentieth.”
Arlette Gomez
“The ministry is going to be looking out for the best interest of the students who are at the heart of this matter to ensure that they will be place in classrooms for the new school year. With regards to the principal, while we cannot direct them to take her back, we have asked that they allow her to prepare her examinations. That can be administered by somebody else but we have asked that they allow her to mark those examinations. We’ve asked the school to ensure that these children are allowed to take their examinations, that they go through the proper process right up to the end of the school year.”
If the school doesn’t reopen, Robinson says that the former principal, Dana Wutke hopes to open a new school which would be named Cayo Christian Academy.
