School had to be cancelled again today at Escuela Tecnica Segundaria Mexico in San Roman Village. That’s because the teachers again had a sick out - and students who showed up had to be sent home. This is the second day in succession that students had to be sent home- and the school has gone from contention to full out crisis. And this afternoon the Education Minister had to go north to appeal to the teachers directly to go back to their classrooms. He returned late this evening and told us about it.
Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“The appeal now is to parents and the students to ensure that they are back in school tomorrow. The teachers have agreed to go back to school tomorrow and on Friday and to give us just a little bit longer to bring some alleviation to the situation.”
Jules Vasquez,
When you say alleviation, we know that the teachers want the principal Juanita Lucas gone, they have profound differences with her.
Patrick Faber,
“Well yes indeed and at the stage that it is right now Jules is that we are asking for the due process to take place. It has been a long process as you know. The Board, when we presented the report to them, had refused to act on that report and so refused to function and so we had to make the recommendation for it to be sent then to the Regional Education Council and that council met last night and they recommended that it be turned over to the Ministry of Education. So it is in the hands of the Ministry now and of course we have to make the best decision. And so my appeal to the teachers earlier today was for them to just give us the additional days to make the right decisions to put the proper measures in place to make sure that the working environment is improved.”
Jules Vasquez,
Bluntly, does those proper measures include the removal of principal Juanita Lucas?
Patrick Faber,
“Well we can’t say definitively but we are looking at the matter. It is now with the Ministry as I said, the Chief Education Officer, the Chief Executive Officer, and myself will sit down over the course of the next two days to decide what is the best course of action for the school. But Jules the truth is that as you have pointed out, the teachers have indicated that they have a problem. The parents have clearly indicated they have a problem, the students have indicated they have a problem, and so we have a problem and we intend to solve that problem to make it at least a better environment for all the stakeholders that are involved in this process.”
Jules Vasquez,
As regards the school, Easter vacation just finished and two of the first three days of the week are wasted, thrown away, students sent home. As the Minister of Education that has to have some effect on you.
Patrick Faber,
“It did and in fact that is the very reason that I took time today, cancelled all my appointments and made my way to Corozal Town to meet with the teachers to say to them that the process is now with the Ministry of Education and we do not want to rush, we do not want to make any wrong decisions which, when you rush something, sometimes turn out to be the wrong decisions, and so we have asked them to be patient with us.
But I went to Corozal today to make an appeal to the teachers and I am happy that they have accepted to go back for the sake of our children who are in school because indeed they have missed out on so much already and I asked them to be comforted with the fact that it is now with the Ministry of Education and we are really serious about solving this problem whereas in my opinion the Board played some games and frustrated the process. That is no longer the case now, it is not in the hands of the board. The regional council has dealt with it, it is now in the hands of the Ministry and we intend to get this matter resolved now and I don’t see how much more delay there can be and that is what I expressed to the teachers because we are hell bent on resolving it and it is in our hands now finally.”
We have seen some of the report compiled by the Ministry of Education and it documents bizarre practices and policies. Among them, students must wear skirts and long pants at sports day; students who arrive late are locked out of the compound until the principal lets then; teachers are required to log each visit to the restroom, among other rigid procedures.
