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The STEM U Foundation in collaboration with the St.Ignatius High School in Cayo have joined forces to increase opportunities in STEM vocational training by launching the country's very first premier Welding & Non-Destructive Testing vocational program at the school. Not only will this enable students to learn about Welding & NDT at the high school level, but it also falls in line with the Ministry of Education's STEM competency-based training. We attended the launching ceremony today.
Jarrus Mitchell, Director of STEM U Foundation
"As NDT institute we teach young children or adults how to perform non destructive testing and I like to give a story at the hospital you know you look for a broken arm without causing more damage so that's called radiography x ray we take that same technology and we look inside of steel and inside of plastics and ceramics to verify material as well as craftsmanship. At STEM U foundation we collaborate with subject matter experts to make these type of programmes come alive."
"So it is very vital to the economics and as a career path that as NDT inspectors as well as welders make are very lucrative internationally not only here in Belize but internationally and this is the focus that we as educators are trying to put into the students that they have to look further and abroad."
Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Education
"Today we celebrated the launch of a welding science programme at Dr Ignacio's highschool in collaboration with an entity of the US that is assisting them in preparing this curriculum for welding and we saw how that effort developed and the collaboration growing over time so it is an area in which we are in much need in Belize so this goes beyond the basic welding that we are familiar with in the country and into some of the frontier areas where you have the sciences being able for example to detect weaknesses in the body Frame of let's say an aircraft or in the structures for nuclear plants and that sort of thing so it is very timely it is consistent with our competency based education because it is now preparing our young people to be able to apply science in areas that are important to our development."
A total of 20 students have signed up for the programme which began on August 21st and will end on June 14th 2024.
