And, Education Minister Faber also commented on the sometimes controversial practice of leaving no child behind. It often translates into social promotions - just sending children who fail up to the next grade as a matter of course, which only worsens the problem.
Faber says that's a mis-application and a misinterpretation of the policy of leaving no child behind:…
Hon. Patrick Faber- Minister of Education "You cannot fail children just like that. In fact, you have to do what you need to do in order to get that child to the passing mark. That is what our instruction is. I don't think that any Belizean would argue with that. We are not to leave any child behind. The Ministry insists that we should not fail children. And by that we mean that we should not give up on children. We should not just socially promote them. That's not what the Ministry says, you know. The Ministry says that we must do all that is in our capabilities, everything that we can as teachers and as administrators, as the Ministry, to support a child and not just write off a child as a failure. That is our policy. How that gets thwarted into 'You can't give a child 0 and you have to give the child at least 50,' that is not a policy from the Ministry."
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"You cannot fail children just like that. In fact, you have to do what you need to do in order to get that child to the passing mark. That is what our instruction is. I don't think that any Belizean would argue with that. We are not to leave any child behind. The Ministry insists that we should not fail children. And by that we mean that we should not give up on children. We should not just socially promote them. That's not what the Ministry says, you know. The Ministry says that we must do all that is in our capabilities, everything that we can as teachers and as administrators, as the Ministry, to support a child and not just write off a child as a failure. That is our policy. How that gets thwarted into 'You can't give a child 0 and you have to give the child at least 50,' that is not a policy from the Ministry."