Any news about the UDP recently - has invariably been about their internal party squabbles.
Bt, it seems just as Leader of the Opposition Shyne went stateside, the Opposition shook off its post-election coma to challenge the Briceno Administration's handling of a number of urgent national issues. The party brass hosted a 2-hour press conference at its headquarters today.
We have a number of excerpts from that extended conversation, but we start our coverage with the Party Leader's presentation on the Government's decision to continue distance learning for this new school year. As we've reported, in class learning was nixed on Saturday night - days before schools were supposed to open.
Former Minister of Education, Patrick Faber expressed concern that with this decision the country's education system will continue to fail Belizean children who come from low-income families. Faber focused on the lack of information on how the government will provide the necessary tools to impoverished students who cannot afford computers or the internet to get access to online education.
Here are a few of his comments:
Hon. Patrick Faber - Leader, United Democratic Party
"We cannot fault the government for making the kind of decision not to convene face-to-face. We can certainly criticize them for putting us in this position yet again without being prepared. You see, when it happened under the UDP's watch, we did not know what to expect, and we did not have the kind of time. Had the administration followed through on what the UDP's plans were, to offer proper distance learning - and we scrambled. Remember we had TV programs. We had printed literature and worksheets/workbooks whatever you want to call them. We started the phablet distribution initiative. We were looking to engage publishers in offering digitized textbooks on these devices for high schoolers. There was Digi Learn. So, by now, high schoolers should have been fully equipped digitally, where teachers would have been able to give instruction. Students would have been able to do their reading and preparation on the various different platforms that would have been offered through Microsoft Office, I think it was. There was a suite of about 25 software applications that would have assisted students, but all of that was thrown into the water. At least I certainly have not heard of their plan. Our students can't handle our inadequacies anymore. There are students who have not received proper instruction for the entire 17 months. It will now begin to span a third school year, and that is, in my view, permanent damage to some of the learning of our children. And we absolutely have to get our act together."
