The new school year hasn't even started as yet - but there is already a controversy brewing among parents and teachers of Libertad Seventh Day Adventist School. Today the parents gathered in front of the school to protest for the removal of the school's principal and 2 other teachers. Our team was there in Libertad Village.
Today these parents lined the street side in front of Libertad Adventist School - protesting for the removal of school's principal and 2 of its teachers.
Josephina Leslie, Parent
"The first thing that they say is that 'we are here and that you have to do what we say' even in meetings with she is talking we can't even ask her questions because she have something else to answer us. She even teases a parent in the meeting, what kind of answer is that? That is no kind of answer for an educated principal who knows how to teach for her to answer a parent like that."
The parents say they are outraged at the mismanagement and reckless behaviour of these teachers and principal and have expressed their concerns to the Libertad Seventh day Adventist Church Board and also to the Belize SDA conference. But according to them - they have not gotten any solution to address their concerns. And so they say they will remove their children from the school if they are not taken seriously.
Causereen Logan, Parent
"We have two or three teachers we want to get out of here because the parents are not satisfy, a lot of the parents are not satisfy by them raising funds, they are not seeing their monies and a lot of other things."
Josephina Leslie, Parent
"Last year we had our fundraising right there at the school. So from the time I am donating and donating I don't see where the money is going. The two chairs are broken up in the palapa and they haven't fix it yet, look at the school yard, we have bought a land mower, we have bought a weed eater - where are they, watch the school yard how it is. They even took the land mower to their home to mown their yard - we didn't buy land mower for them. Even the computers, they don't want anyone to use the computers because they say that the computers are for them. She has a whole day to play on the computer, her daughter is not learning but she is learning computer."
Causereen Logan, Parent
"We have two or three teachers we want to get out of here because the parents are not satisfy, a lot of the parents are not satisfy by them raising funds, they are not seeing their monies and a lot of other things."
Josephina Leslie, Parent
"Last year we had our fundraising right there at the school. So from the time I am donating and donating I don't see where the money is going. The two chairs are broken up in the palapa and they haven't fix it yet, look at the school yard, we have bought a land mower, we have bought a weed eater - where are they, watch the school yard how it is. They even took the land mower to their home to mown their yard -we didn't buy land mower for them. Even the computers, they don't want anyone to use the computers because they say that the computers are for them. She has a whole day to play on the computer, her daughter is not learning but she is learning computer."
Rophina Moh, Parent
"My topic is that if they don't change those teachers my children will come out of school because I am a parent that cooperate when they asks for donation and when we cooperate to make the funds and asks how the money spend, they say that no money is there."
Ofelia Motejio
"Teacher Anjony took my son out of school and sends him home and lock the school gate with a padlock and tell him to bring his mother to school and I don't think that is fair nor right because one of the teacher and I had a talking, she don't have any right to take that out on my son."
THE SISTER OF one of the teachers showed up with a sign clearly stating she was against what the parents were doing…
Sister of Teacher Lucy
"I mad mad from I hear this thing, she is my sister but then she is a teacher too and I have seen all the good that she has done in this village, she have made men and women of mostly all the children here and now they are going to fight against her. I don't like it."
Monica Bodden
"It just this one teacher?"
Sister of Teacher Lucy
"No she is not the only teacher there, they have so many teachers there but they only pick on Mrs. West, I am telling you that this is political motivated, they fear to say it but I don't fear to say it. She works at the Methodist; I told you already what was wrong because she use to share the things with the children and only to the Methodist that was what went wrong there. Then she went to work with the credit union, they say that she thief, I don't know how you could thief at the credit union because you don't even hold a penny at the credit union, you only go to the meetings so you can't thief at the credit union because you only go there for a meeting and you can't do anything there because they have their people to who run their money. I see it unjust to her, she has been here for 34 years teaching and until now she is a problem."
A petition is going around the village which states that they want an immediate removal of Principal Anjony Canul and the two other teacher - Luciols West and Emelia Montejio
According to the parents - the Ministry of Education will receive an official letter of petition. We understand one of the teacher's has been transferred to Dangriga. Today we made several attempts to get a comment from the Belize SDA Conference - but we were unsuccessful.
