But the main point of today's press conference was to clarify the PUP's statements and demand a retraction.
Well, today the Minister of Education says he doesn't see the need for an apology. He explained that it's not that they're being critical of the teachers, it's that they realize that to increase the quality of education, then the quality of teaching must also increase.
He clarified this today.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"We have a good working relationship with the Belize National Teachers Union. It's been a respectful relationship. We speak openly and frankly, so that's nothing new. We have talked openly about the need and the BNTU accepts that there is a need for improved teacher education."
"We need to improve the quality of teacher training. We need to ensure that we're equipping our teachers with more skills. As you all know, we've implemented a new curriculum, a competency-based curriculum."
"That new curriculum requires that our teachers develop new skills. So that's an ongoing effort. And whatever the government has said about it, it's not to be critical. It's not to disrespect teachers."
"It's not to be critical of teachers. It's to say to them that we need to work together to ensure that teacher training is improved. All of us have a collective responsibility to ensure that. Because the quality of our teachers is directly linked to the quality of education."
"So, you know, as I have always maintained, we will work very closely with the Belize National Teachers Union to address these issues. Teacher training is a priority for us at the ministry."
"I don't see the need for any apology. We're having an honest conversation. Teacher training is an issue, is a challenge. The union itself recognizes that. So we have to work on it together. That's the issue."
"Nobody meant to disrespect them. Nobody is being critical of them. We're recognizing that there is a problem in the education system that all of us have to work on together, including them. So, I would leave it at that."
