MOE Engages in Summer Education Programs to Bridge the Gap

When we caught up with the Minister of Education today in Belize City we got an opportunity to ask him about his ministry’s summer initiatives to bridge the learning gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Fonseca spoke with us about the “Let’s Catch Up Summer Camp”, a program that is being carried on radio, as well as the ministry’s Facebook page. Additionally, Minister Fonseca says that learning centers have been established in each district for students to engage in further learning opportunities. Here is how he explained it.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“We launched a very exciting, innovative program called Let’s Catch Up. I believe it is in its second week. The whole idea is about trying to close the learning gaps that have been created over the last two years because students have not been in the classroom and have not had the opportunity to engage in face to face learning. Some students have suffered as result of that. So, our analysis of the data shows very clearly that there are distinct learning gaps that have to be closed. So, this Let’s Catch Up Summer Camp will run for seven weeks. The focus is on numbers and literacy. So we want to ensure that we focus on those specific issues, reading, math, English, those core areas that are fundamental to your learning. So, I think it is going well so far. We have gotten it both on radio across the country and both online. We have five centers in every district so students can go into those centers in addition to Facebook and radio.”