And while this is a major step for the junior college, other schools in the country are making small steps towards face-to-face learning. 42 schools have opened their doors and are doing some form of hybrid learning. And while the reopening of school is slow, it's much needed to get children off the streets and back into the classroom. In the past year and half that they have been out of school, students have fallen behind in a major way, and there's been a notable rise in dropouts as well as the killings of teenagers. Today we asked Minister Fonseca about the importance of getting kids back in the classroom setting.
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Yeah. The last report I received was that 42 schools across the country have reopened in some form. As you will appreciate full face to face learning. So in most cases, it's a hybrid approach. So you have a face to face learning, but you also have, you know, online learning as well taking place. So very few schools have reopened fully for face to face learning, only for face to face learning. And I don't think that is something that we're going to see happen very quickly. So far, the two schools have actually opened. I think over 60 of them have actually gotten greenlighted. But out of those 60, something 40 have actually returned to some form of face to face instruction."
Courtney Menzies:
"Now we know that schools, especially in the south side of Belize that they provide this buffer for the students to not fall into those negative influences. And while school was out, we had the murders of many children. SJC lost two of its high school students and I think one sixth form student. And then earlier this week, we had somebody from Maud Williams being shot. Can you speak on these murders and the importance of school as that buffer to protect them?"
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"No, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, it's as you all know, it's a very complex issue. But certainly, our education system has to play a critical role in resolving this issue. So we have to make strategic investments in education in these vulnerable communities. As you rightly said, you know what, our young people are out of the school system, you know, that provides opportunities for these problems to arise. These challenges to be exacerbated. So we want them back in the classroom. And that is that is one of the reasons we've been pushing so hard and trying so hard to get to our classrooms, but get our students back into the classroom in a safe and reasonable way. You know, as well as the violence, you know, there's a lot of social and psychological negative impacts on our students being outside of the classroom, not being around your friends, not having the support system that normally comes with the education system. So it's a big challenge, but we understand that challenge that we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to ensure that our students get back into the classroom."
And we also asked the minister about the high drop out rates of these southside schools.
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Yeah, I think we've talked about this before, but again, there's a comprehensive recovery plan, as we call it, and a part of that recovery plan is, as you rightly said, ensuring that we're targeting these young people, identifying them, targeting them, working with their families, working with their communities. And I have to give absolute credit to the teachers. They're the ones really doing that work. We can sit and, you know, Belmopan at Ministry of Education and say, we want these things to happen. But if the teachers, the principals don't get engaged in these communities and it's happening at Maud Williams High School, it's happening at Gwen Lizarraga is happening at Excelsior, Sadie Vernon where the principals and teachers have taken ownership of this problem and challenge. And they are themselves going out into the communities, talking with parents and guardians and families and saying, Listen, it's important for your students to be back in the classroom."
