Education Minister Francis Fonseca flanked Prime Minister Said Musa during the negotiation meeting and after he was equally non-committal.
Keith Swift,
Minister what can you say to parents whose kids have been out of school for 4 days going on 5 days now? And who are understandably worried and concerned about their children's education?
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Well I'll say what I've been saying from the very beginning that that should not be the case. Our first priority should be ensuring that our children are in school. I've made it very clear from the beginning, in every discussion I've had with the union, that we can continue to discuss our differences, continue to discuss the challenges that we face, and continue to discuss the proposals that they put to government but we must not do so while our students are out of school. We can do all of that while our students are back in school and our teachers are back in the classroom giving an education to our children. So it should not be done at the expense of our children."
And again after those interviews, the Belmopan and Orange Walk branches of the BNTU voted resoundingly to keep the strike going, so their cautious optimism seems dashed for the time being, at least until new talks commence.
