We move on now to news of one of the 19 schools countrywide that reopened its doors and welcomed their students back to classes at the beginning of this week.
As we told you, children and adolescents have been out of school for 19 months, and that extended departure from the class setting has taken its toll on their education and their socialisation.
And, for one tiny school in rural Belize - the disconnect and the losses were too great - they had to act to get the kids back in the classroom.
Today, our news team traveled to the only school in Belize District that has resumed in-class instruction in the midst of the pandemic. Daniel Ortiz reports:
Zion Park Methodist, located along the Old Northern Highway in the community of St. Anne's, has been identified as the only primary school in the Belize District that has resumed face-to-face instruction.
The principal tells us that they returned to classes back in May.
Erminda Reid - Principal, Zion Park Methodist School
"We started in May, from the 10th of May for the phase 1, but we have staggered then, it was one class because we were multigrade and last school year we had more children than this year, so we have one class coming in today and another tomorrow, because we have a staff of 4. I am a teaching principal and the other teachers teach both classes as well. Each of us teach both classes."
Reporter
"How many kids do you see a day you would say?"
Erminda Reid
"We had some class with 12 the maximum students, so we figured that we have to do one class per day to avoid the over crowding. This school year is different because we have the 12 which is a maximum for both classes, so we could have both classes on the same day."
Reporter
"What are the age ranges that you teach here?"
Erminda Reid
"From 5-14. Infant 1 through to Standard 6."
Reporter
"Do you have any of the kids who are vaccinated with the Pfizer?"
Erminda Reid
"Out of the 8 we have 6 of them. The other 2 the parents don't agree, so there is nothing we can do about that."
Apart from alternating classes to prevent overcrowding the classrooms, the teachers have worked hard to make social distancing rules a strict part of the routine for the school children.
Erminda Reid - Principal, Zion Park Methodist School
"We do every day protocol the learning, we remind them to wash your hands as they come in. We take their temperature, we remind them about their distance, wear their masks, and we ask the neighbor which is the student beside them or closest to them to remind them when you see them with their mask off, keep your distance, so whenever you hear them outside you hear a few of them say 'social distance' - that's when they get too close, but we try to do the protocol every day as a routine so they will get remember it at all time."
Reporter
"Was there any hesitation among the parents of the student body?"
Erminda Reid
"So far we have a few parents that don't agree to have their children coming back, because they are scared. You know how children are, they will be children. You have to be watching them, because they don't remember sometime to keep their distance, they like to share their stuff. They are typical children, so with that some of their parents don't want them to come and we can't force them."
But, these educators are happy to have a large portion of their students back. That's because, for some of the communities they live in, internet connectivity is not available. That means that the kids' educational development was halted a year ago when school went mostly online - leaving many rural kids out:
Erminda Reid - Principal, Zion Park Methodist School
"I am happy that they gave us the green light, because we are the only school that the children don't have any access to the internet. We have 20 children from Corozalito attending the school and there is no form of internet data, so even if we say we want to do part online, we can't. Nothing like when you are in the classroom when the teacher is teaching than when you are at home. Sometimes the parents don't understand, they don't have patience, so I know that the children are losing a lot and I am happy that they are being able to be back in school to pick up where they left off and catch up on what they missed."
In total, 56 schools have been approved to open - many say they will wait a few more weeks in the hopes that the COVID infectivity rate subsides.
