Ladyville Technical High School opens in September

Primary school students filled the Ladyville Community Centre to witness the launching of the Ladyville Technical High School this morning. The ceremony was conducted by the Ministry of Education and the new high school’s board of directors who discussed how the institution will be managed and what programs will be offered to its first set of first form students.

Belize Rural North primary school graduates will no longer need to travel several miles to the city to attend a technical school. In September, the Ladyville Technical High School will officially open at the former Price Barracks at mile ten on the Northern Highway. Although there is much work to be done to the site’s existing buildings before the classes can begin, the new high school board members say the facility will be ready for the start of the new school year.

Dr. Cecil Reneau, C.E.O., Ministry Of Education

“There are enough buildings there to have a really large high school but this year we will be taking in three first forms. As the years go on we will expand. Somewhere after the fourth year and the first graduation then there will even be the need to add probably tertiary level programs there because these will be special kind of students coming out from there – very technical and technologically oriented.

For example they will be introduced to computers right in the first term. They will be introduced to computer aided drafting, computer aided manufacturing. They will be introduced to the productive sectors of the community and their whole curriculum will be built around the sectors that have been identified for economic development in Belize, that is agriculture and the service sectors.”

Reneau says the principles of a technology curriculum have been tried in the United States with good results. Initially the high school will be fully funded by the government but a grant will then be given to the school’s management. All other funds will have to be generated by the community and school.

Dr. Cecil Reneau

“This institution will grow into what we call a community owned institution. But in it’s initial stage of development, the Government of Belize will be funding it one hundred percent. Eventually it will move into where we will be giving them a grant and then they will raise funds.”

Ralph Fonseca, Area Rep., Belize Rural North

“Central to our manifesto in the last election was the putting together of this school and we know that the great conversation has to do with consulting with everyone because we say that leadership is consulting then guiding.

We are all a part of this thing. You all decided that we needed this high school; you all entered into that great conversation and you all said that we must do it and we must do it as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile plans are underway to relocate the Youth Enhancement Academy which is presently at Price Barracks. Its new location is still the subject of debate. When Y.E.A. moves, Ladyville Technical will then take over the entire compound. Dr. Reneau says potential students will be evaluated in a number of ways.

Dr. Cecil Reneau

“I would like to tell students, standard six students from this area who would like to attend Ladyville Technical High School not to worry about their B.N.S.E. score. What we will do is to look at that score but we will also look at their performances over the last two years of primary school and we will be having an interview with them and their parents.

The first term of the new school year we will have the kind of teachers that will work with them to find out what their aptitudes are and what their weaknesses are and we will work with them. There is a possibility that their school year will be longer than the normal school year, maybe it will have to go into the summer but we will work with them and we will take them from where they are and we will take them to where they want to go.”

Interested primary school students can pick up application forms at the Ladyville Community Centre.