B.N.T.U. to Students: Proud Of You, We Have Your Back!

The disappearance and return of Kelvin Usher last week touched many, especially students of Saint John’s College Junior College, which counted him as a classmate and friend. Many of them unprecedentedly walked out of classes last Wednesday and unto the streets in protest of the lackadaisical response by police and authorities. And they were there to welcome him home the following Thursday. One year on from the B.N.T.U.’s strike and protests, in which a good number of students participated, President Elena Smith applauded the students’ action and said the teachers have their backs.

Elena Smith

Elena Smith, National President, B.N.T.U.

“I am so proud of them. I am very proud of those students. I believe that as Belizeans we must look to those students and we must take from them because they have set an example for us. It was something that affected one of them, a person within their age range, and they believed that not enough was being done and so they stepped out. I believe that we must be like them and we must support them. And while B.N.T.U. was not out there with them we were prepared to support them in whatever way we could. At the time we were having as you are aware, district meetings and so we were not in the City, but many of our teachers were supporting them. As a matter of fact I have a son that goes to Sixth Form, and he was very involved in getting together a protest at the school the day that Kelvin was found. And so I am very proud of them.”