Ground broken on new Wesley primary

In the last several years new school buildings have been sprouting like weeds at the start of rainy season. Today, the earth was turned once more, this time in Belize City. Ann-Marie reports.

Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting

It was a small, but impressive ceremony this morning as students of Wesley Lower School on Albert Street in Belize City, braved the sun to witness what will be a major improvement to the quality of educational life–the ground breaking for a new addition to their school. On hand for the occasion were Rev’d C. David Goff, President of the Methodist Church and Area Representative Mark Espat.

Mark Espat, Area Representative, Albert Div.

“Many of us continue to live downtown on the southside as we refer to it, and if we do not plan to seek further control of our streets and playgrounds to the criminals and drug pushers, then we must build more schools, better homes, better sporting facilities. These are the investments necessary to reverse the tides of decline and decay; investment in people are necessary.”

And what better way to invest in people than to enlarge a school with a new computer room, classrooms and bathrooms. The two hundred and fifty thousand dollar project of the Government of Belize is expected to be completed by June of this year.

But education, according to Superintendent of the Methodist Church Rev’d Otto Wade, is more than just building classrooms on the southside.

Rev’d Otto Wade

“It is about where our children live, what they eat, where they play, what kind of toilets they use. How many are in their classes, the availability of textbooks, pens, pencils and paper. The time their parents have to spend with them, and their opportunity as they sit in those classes, to get at least a little vision of where they may go one day; a little vision, a vision that I have.”

Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.