C.E.O. in Ministry of Education Gives Update on Teacher that Went Live on Facebook against St Luke’s Primary

Dian Maheia

A couple months ago, a teacher from St. Luke Primary School took to Facebook to share the frustration and humiliation that she was enduring at the school, allegedly at the hands of three administrative officers. When Joanne Ysaguirre went live on video to share her experience, it captured the attention of thousands of Belizeans who were shocked at what she said. It also prompted those at the Ministry of Education to investigate the allegations. Today, the media got a chance to ask C.E.O at that Ministry, Dian Maheia for an update.

Dian Maheia, C.E.O., Ministry of Education

“We have to remain mindful of perspectives all around. One of the realities of being a teacher, and all teachers know this, is that you can’t do that you want when you want. We have to continue to support teachers at all levels in all ways. And I think depending on the perspective that you have, we know that we want to continue to hold managements accountable where we can for supporting teachers. So if you’re a teacher – I need to really break this down here – if you’re a teacher and you need to pee, you’re the only teacher in the classroom with your twenty students. You may not be able to leave at that minute. This is one of our teacher realities. So we need our managements and our administrations to have in something in place to say I can text you and say I need a bathroom break and somebody is going to come and relieve me. This is a reality as teachers and any teacher knows this. This is what happens to you. It’s not like being in an office where you can just quit when you’re ready.”