Amalgamated schools functioning as Rural Primary

Earlier in the week, the official launch of the South-side School Feeding program was held at the Skills Training Center on Magazine Road. The project does not only feed needy students selected from participating schools in the city but also includes rural areas of the Belize District and some schools in Stann Creek. However, the initiative is also benefitting some students of Belize Rural Primary School, which is the amalgamation of several smaller church managed schools. Minister of Education Patrick Faber visited the primary school and spoke about the amalgamation.

Patrick Faber, Ministry of Education

“Well I thought it would be fitting for us to visit the Belize Rural Primary School, one of the products of amalgamation that the ministry has embarked on. The purpose of my visit it to of course, observe what has been going on since the amalgamation. There were six schools amalgamated to be the Belize Rural Primary School; three Roman Catholic, three Anglican.

Patrick Faber

They are now being managed by a community board made up of representatives of the various stakeholder bodies that have an interest that includes the Roman Catholic management, the Anglican Management communities involved in this area and the village chairpersons and so on that are rotated. I am very, very pleased at what is happening.  Of course, the children get a meal at lunch time a very nutritious meal. The children can now sit in full scale classrooms; multi-grade teaching is no more. We have of course, an administrative principal, and head teachers at the various sites of the school and so we have seen where quality has improved. We have put in place a school transportation system that moves students cross the River Valley in a safe manner. That includes having a warden on buses; a bus driver, a conductor. At least three adults on bus while the children are being moved from various campuses or from their villages to the campuses of the school. It is a wonderful success story. It is a work in progress and we hope our continued push along with the support of our stakeholders particularly the community in this regard, will come and we will move from strength to strength in the quality that comes from the Belize Rural Primary School.”

Thirteen schools from the south side of Belize City will be participating in the initiative which will supply a nutritious lunch to needy primary school children.