B.N.T.U. President on Curriculum Reform, “Why the Rush?”

Ruth Shoman

President Shoman is also asking the Ministry of Education, why the rush to implement its competency-based curriculum? She argues that some teachers are yet to be consulted on the new curriculum. She further contends that some schools lack basic resources like water and adequate transportation and may not be in a position to take full of advantage of the reform. Here is how she puts it.

Ruth Shoman, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“What I’m gathering is that not every teacher was consulted. There, in some instances, some teachers, for whatever reason, didn’t reach that consultation. And so, as with everything, change brings issues. And I believe that it is critical that If anything is to be implemented, that the voice of the teacher not only be heard, but be respected, because it serves no good to turn on the mic when consultation process is happening, and then you turn it off when implementation happens, and you need the feedback from those who really are in the system. So we have issues to address with this. We will need to sit with the Ministry of Education to iron out those issues as soon as possible because teachers are feeling the pinch. Sometimes things look beautiful on paper, but the reality is something different. And not every school has the same environment and so we need to address things individually. Sometimes we take for granted that schools have water. Sometimes we take for granted that schools have internet available. We take for granted that teachers can reach their destination on time. We do have school buses, we have systems in place, and it’s not perfected. And, we know that there are all systems in place to try to get that, but in getting there, we can’t just jump. We need to crawl, and then walk, and then we can run with it. And it’s that process. The issue, and if I’m asked what’s my biggest issue with this whole thing, is the rush. It’s not the whole concept of the new curriculum because it has very good initiatives. But it’s the rush.”