A New Classroom for Ladyville Tech
Four days into the start of the new school year, Ladyville Technical High School is the recipient of an addition to one of its existing buildings which will be used as a first form classroom. Today, the official inauguration of the extended space was held as the institution solidifies a partnership with the Belize Defence Force and the Ministry of Education. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The academic year 2022 commenced earlier this week for high schools and to accommodate the influx of students at Ladyville Technical High School, an additional classroom was installed at the institution. Approximately twenty thousand dollars in material were paid for by the school and the Belize Defence Force’s Light Engineering Company applied its expertise to construct the classroom.
Diane Wesby
Diane Wesby, Principal, Ladyville Technical High School
“For the last five years, we have been rotating out intake at first form. So if one year I would have an intake of five first form classes, the following year when they are promoted, I can only take four because we did not have the additional classroom. Now that we have it, I was able to now take five first form this year. July fifth the work actually started and so the soldiers from the specific battalion came on to our campus and they worked every day until we are now here today.”
The school currently has an enrollment of four hundred and ninety students. Thirty-two of them have been assigned to the new classroom. The building took about six weeks to be completed by the B.D.F. soldiers.
Brigadier General Azariel Loria
Brigadier General Azariel Loria, Commander, B.D.F.
“We have the light engineer company that have qualified people; they are graduates from the ITVET. They are plumbers, carpenters, electricians, masons – you know, the plethora of what ITVET offers; we have it in that unit. So whichever school that requests for it, once they provide the material, we have the manpower and we can get it done.”
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Ladyville Tech and the B.D.F. This partnership will allow for soldiers and their families to study at the institution.
Brigadier General Azariel Loria
“We are requesting the assistance from the Ministry of Education to provide scholarship for our soldiers, especially when the program for the evening division is finalised here in Ladyville Tech then we are going to take advantage of that and many other opportunities that we can capitalise on, we will do that.”
It is similar to another M.O.U. that was signed between the University of Belize and the Belize Coast Guard. Minister of Education Francis Fonseca says his intention is to develop a comprehensive M.O.U. between the ministry and the B.D.F. to provide greater opportunities for members of these law enforcement agencies and their children.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“We’ve been talking about how we could work more closely together, how can we collaborate, how can we provide greater opportunities for the men and women of the Belize Defence Force and their families, their children. As well, how can the Ministry of Education take advantage of the great depository of expertise that we have in the Belize Defence Force. The B.D.F. have some of the most highly trained people in this country and we have to find ways of taking advantage of that expertise; that wealth of knowledge that we have in the B.D.F.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
