64,000 primary school students returned to school on Tuesday and since then they've been learning without textbooks. That is because government's planned rollout of its $6.5 million free textbook program hit a snag. All of the books have not been delivered to schools and so schools haven't distributed them to students. Education Minister Francis Fonseca says it is a logistical problem that has been solved.
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"We had delays, logistical delays for two reasons. One is that we had to move the books out of Belize City when the hurricanes were threatening. Just like people had to move, we had to move the books. We brought them back and then Hurricane Felix came along and we had to do the same again. That was aggravated by the fact that we had to give up our government vehicles to the security services during the hurricane and we understood that, there was justification for that. And so there were minor delays but the reality is that the problem has been resolved and the students will have their books.
Let me use this opportunity as well to clear up misinformation about children having to share books. That is absolute nonsense. We have more books than we need. All the books are in Belize and so every student will have the books they need."
Fonseca also noted that the delay in distribution was limited to Belize City.
