C.E.O.: Education in Belize competitive but can be better
Next Monday, Belize will officially launch Education week 2006. The theme for the event is “Education: transforming lives, liberating spirits, improving Belize.” According to Chief Education Officer, Maud Hyde, this year’s activities will focus on the public’s participation in the education system and the contribution of dedicated teachers and schools to society.
Muad Hyde, Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education
?Education is a vast endeavour. It touches the lives of all of us and there are so many things we would want to express, one day would not do.?
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
With that in mind, next week the Ministry of Education will host several events starting with an open day at the House of Culture in Belize City to show the community what?s happening in our schools.
Maud Hyde
?We often hear that the Ministry enjoys the largest portion of the budget, so it?s good for people to be able to come in and interact with the personnel, the people in the Ministry, to look at what they do, the units, the service areas and actually see what is being delivered in the name of education services.?
On Friday the National Council for Education and Ministry of Education will also honour five outstanding teachers and an institution for their service to Belizean students.
Maud Hyde
?There are so many outstanding persons out there in education, teachers who have touched the lives of many of us. That I feel that this is an excellent opportunity for the public to put on paper that is the person that I think as a teacher has made a vast difference in the lives of children and the community in which they live.?
As for the state of education in Belize, Hyde admits that while students are on par with their peers in the rest of the region, we can do better.
Maud Hyde
?Education is one of the areas that you never get enough. You can never reach your target. We certainly have been doing a whole lot. We?ve seen a lot of improvement in our schools. Often times we take one indicator and that is examinations, to be indication of where we are. It?s a good indicator, it does show us academically where our students are at. But there is more to it than that, we need to look at the entire school environment, and look at the many schools that now access to education is available to many more students.?
?And I would say that generally speaking we are doing well. There are some schools who again may not be doing too well and perhaps be the reason why the national average is not moving up the way it should be, and those are the schools that we should take the time to give the extra attention to.?
According to Hyde, the Ministry is also encouraging the business community to adopt schools in their area, in order to increase the success of projects such as the National Reading Program. Education Week activities will also include the return of the Secondary Schools Debate on Thursday May eighteenth starting at one thirty at the S.J.C. gym.
