Wesley boasts new addition to school
With Belize’s rapidly expanding population, those responsible for our educational system must run hard just to keep pace with the increasing demand. Today in Belize City News 5’s Janelle Chanona visited two secondary schools to check on their progress.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
This morning, Wesley College officially inaugurated their new classrooms. Like many secondary institutions across the country, Wesley College needs all the space it can get.
Brenda Armstrong, Principal, Wesley College
“This year we have a hundred and fifty second formers, last year we took in a hundred and fifty three. Six of those are repeaters and they are joined now, the promoted ones, by some second former repeaters. And so you see, the numbers are growing and for the first time we have one hundred and ten fourth formers. So we are closing that gap gradually, and that makes me happy, because it means less drop out, less repetition, therefore, we are fulfilling our mission.”
According to Area Representative and Minister of Tourism, Mark Espat, the work done at Wesley is illustrative of a real relationship between the church and state and of the dedication of its stakeholders.
Mark Espat, Area Representative, Albert Division
“Wesley College compensates with heart for what it does not have in physical space. Wesley College compensates in performance for what it may lack in infrastructure. And Wesley College like Belize stands proud and strong; not at twenty-one, but at one hundred and twenty. That is right, one hundred and twenty years of tradition, of service, of quality education. And all one hundred and twenty years right here in the Albert Division.”
The new building will house three classrooms, an office and a library.
Brenda Armstrong
“Finally we can spread out a little more, it actually does not mean we have any extra classrooms, it is what we had needed, and I tell you, it is a blessing. We have space now for three fourth form classes up here. And finally, a room that we can truly call a library.”
But just a few streets away, as many as thirty-three students are calling the cramped confines of the library their classroom. Construction on their building extension is still in process forcing the students and staff of St. Michael’s College to improvise for space.
P. Michael Price, Principal, St. Michael’s College
“We are using workshops like the Home Economics room, clothing and textiles room, science lab, even the library to accommodate them rather than having them out of school. So I think we are coping pretty well. The teachers have been very understanding, very co-operative, and so have the students.”
Janelle Chanona
“When do you think the new building will be ready?”
P. Michael Price
“We were estimating that by now. But that’s impossible. I’m a layman where this is concerned, and I would think another three to four weeks. But even if all of the finishing work isn’t done, we could still accommodate the classrooms and the exterior work could be done like the painting and so on. So probably in the next two weeks.”
But every September, overcrowding is an issue for Belizean schools, forcing the Ministry of Education to come up with new ideas to handle the familiar situation.
Cordel Hyde, Minister of Education
“Some institutions where we are not in a position to build the classroom immediately, we are employing a creative shift system so that we can continue to be resourceful and continue to accommodate the thousands of students who want to go to school.”
Janelle Chanona
“What’s that response been like from the community and the parents?”
Cordel Hyde
“It’s been great, because we have instances, particularly at district towns where we just need to come up with the materials half the time and the community activists and residents are willing to put in the labour. And in some instances they are willing to wait until the buildings are ready, until the rehabilitation in some cases are through. And the shift system is not a permanent fixture, it’s really just a temporary situation until we are in a position to either finish the classrooms we started to construct, or until we can gather the resources to build the classrooms.”
Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
Between preschool and university, the Ministry of Education estimates that there are approximately eighty thousand Belizean students enrolled in various educational institutions across the country.
