S.J.C Opens New University, Complete with Science and Engineering Labs

As an institution, it has been around since 1887, offering a wide variety of liberal arts and science courses at the secondary, British A-level, and United States junior college levels. Founded by the Society of Jesus as Saint John’s College, the school opened with twelve day-students and two boarders, offering a high school education to only boys. But the institution has grown leaps and bounds over the last century and now it boasts its own full-fledge university, complete with a fully equipped and furnished science lab and engineering unit, study halls and more, all to the tune of over ten million dollars. Ground was broken in 2020, but COVID and Hurricane Lisa put a damper on its progress. But today St John’s proudly opened the facility. News Five’s Marion Ali was there and filed this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

This spanking new building is where many of Belize’s future career engineers, nurses, and community leaders will spend their time earning their Bachelor degrees over the next couple years. Today, St. John’s College opened its university, much to the delight of the Ministry of Education, which had given the green light back in 2021. Education Minister, Francis Fonseca was present for the momentous occasion.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“The Jesuits have been at the forefront of education in Belize for many decades and certainly it was important for us at the Ministry of Education and for me personally, as the Minister of Education, to give my full support to moving St. John’s College to really a final stage, which is the Bachelor’s Degree Program, and making them a full-fledged university here in Belize. And of course, today as well, they are inaugurating their science building. Again, that’s another pillar of our education agenda, making sure that we are providing greater opportunities for students in Belize, young people in Belize and everyone really to get access to science and technology education.”

The achievement is the result of a few years of efforts, with the groundbreaking having taken place back in 2020, but COVID and Hurricane Lisa delayed the process. Finally, the facility, with fifteen thousand square feet of space on each of its three floors, boasts quite a few amenities.

Mirta Peralta

Mirta Peralta, President, St. John’s College.

“We got the permission to go four years, and so we have on the second floor we have a nursing lab and a nursing hall. We also have an engineering room. We have huge facilities for inorganic and organic chemistry. We have for biology, we have two mat labs, and we also have four classrooms. We also have two large conference halls, one for the university, one for the junior college, two faculty rooms, and huge spaces in terms of storage and preparatory rooms for our teachers and our students.”

President of St John’s College, Mirta Peralta shared that the institution is accredited and belongs to the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, which is a prestigious status to hold.

Mirta Peralta

“We are accredited because we also belong to the classifications of desert colleges and universities. And so we are alongside Georgetown University, Fordham University, and 27 other universities in the United States.”

Peralta explained that the university’s curriculum was carefully selected after a national survey was conducted. In planning for the future, Peralta says that in years to come students will be able to earn their Master’s and doctorates degrees as well.

Mirta Peralta

“We’re really listening to the, to the, to the people who are listening to the students in this country. Those are the programs that we implement, but also aligning it to the, um, to the needs of the country, and of course to the Belize education sector plan that the government ruled out in 2021 2022. We have, um, We have business, we have cybersecurity, psychology, criminology, engineering, and nursing. And we’re hoping, and all of these programs have been established, and our universities from the United States have helped us in the development of this.”

Already, the new facility has almost two hundred students enrolled. Marion Ali for News Five.