Ground Broken for Construction of Schools in Caye Caulker & San Pedro
In an effort to improve the quality of education in Belize, the Ministry of Education has embarked on constructing thirty-five schools across the country. Ocean Academy in Caye Caulker Village will be expanded and a pre-school, primary and high school will be built in San Pedro Town. This gives the students of both islands greater access to education. The ground was broken last week and Hipolito Novelo has the following story.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
Ground was broken last week for the construction of two education facilities- one in Caye Caulker Village and the other in San Pedro Town. A pre-school and a state of the art facility will be built at Ocean Academy in Caye Caulker Village. In San Pedro, the Ministry of Education has secured funds for the construction of a pre-school, primary and high school. Education Minister Patrick Faber says the construction of the schools forms part of the larger project that the ministry has embarked on.
Patrick Faber
Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“The government through the Caribbean Development Bank is spending seventy-something million dollars and the government is putting its own in that. I think overall we are spending eighty-plus million dollars. As I said we are building thirty five new schools across the country. Twenty two of them are pre-schools. I just saw the drawing of what these preschools will look like. This is not a small type preschool. This is a state of the art facility and you are going to have one of those facility right her on Caye Caulker.”
Chairlady of Caye Caulker Village Seleny Villanueva-Pott underscored the importance of additional facilities to complement the existing Ocean Academy.
Seleny Villanueva-Pott
Seleny Villanueva-Pott, Chairlady of Caye Caulker Village
“Today is a very historic day for Caye Caulker as we break ground for our very secondary education compound. This is a very heartwarming feeling as Ocean Academy students will no longer dream of what it is to have their own science lab or their own basket ball court or their area to stock their kayaks. They will soon live it. Ocean Academy now gives us an alternative, one we didn’t have back then. And it also gives the less fortunate the opportunity to an education. As an attending students in the city it did not only require hard work but it also great financial backing from parents. Oceana Academy provides a level of alleviation for families. It provided the Caye Caulker with hope that we are not able to educate future generators right there at home.”
According to Belize Rural South Area Representative Manuel Heredia Junior, arriving at this point was no easy task.
Manuel Heredia Jr.
Manuel Heredia Jr., Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“The expansion of Ocean Academy it was not easy but thanks for the support of our Minister of Education, we were back and forth until finally we were able to identify the land on which the high will be sitting. We are very proud to say that we will have a state of the art building for Ocean Academy with a little over five acres of land to be able to expansion in the future.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
