The Tree House Academy - it is a school opened 6 years ago in tiny Boston Village on the old Northern Highway. But the Ministry of Education said that Mennonite James Duncan opened the school without a license - which is contrary to the Education And Training Act. The Ministry warned him that he needed a license, and when he didn't get one, they sent him an order to close the school down. That's when he applied for a license - which was denied by the National Council For Education. He was again told to close down, but continued to operate. In January of this year, he sought judicial review of the decision by the NCE, but that was denied. Still, he kept the school open and that's when the Ministry of Education instituted its own claim against Duncan. His attorney Richard Bradley Jr tried to have the claim struck out but Justice Shona Griffith denied that and the trial proceed. That's when Duncan's attorney argued that as a Mennonite he does not need a license to operate based on the 1957 agreement that the mennonites had with the then colony of British Honduras. But Justice Shona Griffith wasn't convinced that he was form that sect of Mennonites, and today she gave her ruling: she found that he has been acting unlawfully, is required to follow the Education And Training Act Of Belize and is ordered to close by December 31st.
Duncan's school was accused of not observing the ministry approved curriculum and or practicing corporal punishment, among other irregularities.
Agassi Finnegan and Trennia Young brought the case for government.
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The Tree House Academy - it is a school opened 6 years ago in tiny Boston Village on the old Northern Highway. But the Ministry of Education said that Mennonite James Duncan opened the school without a license - which is contrary to the Education And Training Act. The Ministry warned him that he needed a license, and when he didn't get one, they sent him an order to close the school down. That's when he applied for a license - which was denied by the National Council For Education. He was again told to close down, but continued to operate. In January of this year, he sought judicial review of the decision by the NCE, but that was denied. Still, he kept the school open and that's when the Ministry of Education instituted its own claim against Duncan. His attorney Richard Bradley Jr tried to have the claim struck out but Justice Shona Griffith denied that and the trial proceed. That's when Duncan's attorney argued that as a Mennonite he does not need a license to operate based on the 1957 agreement that the mennonites had with the then colony of British Honduras. But Justice Shona Griffith wasn't convinced that he was form that sect of Mennonites, and today she gave her ruling: she found that he has been acting unlawfully, is required to follow the Education And Training Act Of Belize and is ordered to close by December 31st.