Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
The Belize National Teachers Union has voted to take industrial action against the government. On Wednesday, 2,500 members participated in the countrywide vote. The action will take place in 3 phases - the first will be a demonstration, the second a two day national shut down, and the third will be a strike.
While no dates have been given just yet, the Ministry of Education is hoping to meet with the union before the first phase. However, according to the minister, Cabinet will have to discuss their demands, which include an 8.5% salary adjustment.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "I must say that yes I am aware of the demands that the teachers are making and I must say that we understand and respect that is their right to be able to voice their concerns, obviously the membership voted. Certainly, for us, we can understand and appreciate the concerns that they have. We have a duty as a government to sit down to discuss the issues that were brought up by the BNTU and I'm certain that Cabinet is going to advise on a plan forward."
Courtney Menzies: "Will you try to get them to the table before they get to that point of demonstrating?"
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "Absolutely. I want to say that we have had a very cordial and respectful relationship with the BNTU. We understand the role of the union and we appreciate the work that our teachers do. I think that that is very important for me to set the record straight. And obviously the only way to solve whatever issues there are is to come to the table. We need to sit down, we need dialogue, we need to work together and we need to understand, as much as the teachers have their demands, as a country, we also have certain challenges but we need to find a way to work, to be able to take into account the concerns and issues that our teachers have and similarly what are the constraints that government has and see how best we can work a way forward to address the concerns."
Courtney Menzies: "What's the likelihood of them getting the raise that they're demanding?"
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "I cannot speak individually to that because certainly that is a matter for Cabinet to consider and obviously once Cabinet sits on it, we will certainly appraise the union, the teachers, and certainly the media."
The union's council of management is meeting tomorrow to discuss the result of the vote.
And we also asked the new Minister of Education about the issue at Anglican Cathedral College where, once again, students were sent home because of their haircut. It's a recurring issue and the previous minister repeatedly stated that schools cannot send children home due to what they would deem as improper hairstyles. In this case, it was male students who had tightly tapered haircuts.
While Requena wasn't fully briefed on the matter, he said they have to work more closely with the schools.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "I am not fully aware of it, I did hear something to that effect."
Courtney Menzies: "I know that the Ministry has set that rule already that you can't send kids home for their haircuts or for minor reasons like that so is the Ministry dialoguing with ACC to try and figure out what happened?"
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "First of all we need to establish and find out exactly what transpired. But really the policies are clear. We want, in as much as we understand and appreciate that institutions have their own rules and regulations we also have to understand that the rules and regulations cannot infringe on the rights of individuals."
Courtney Menzies: "But it seems like schools aren't adhering to this policy."
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "Well, we need to do more work on that. We need to certainly reach out more to the schools and to sensitize them."
There was an unusual murder in Belize City last night - it happened on Coney Drive on the northside - where violence happens very rarely.
Just after 8:00 p.m. police responded to reports of shots fired on Coney Drive. When cops arrived, they found the lifeless body of 61-year-old Carlos Enrique Avelar on the sidewalk with a fatal head injury.
Investigations reveal that Avelar was walking along Coney Drive in the direction of Body 2000 when, near the corner of Sunrise Avenue, he was approached by two men on a motorcycle. One of the men pulled out a firearm and opened fire on Avelar, hitting him multiple times. The shooters then fled the scene along Sunrise Avenue. Several expended shell casings were found on the scene.
Reports say Avalar was a mason from the Belama area - and he was not known in the Coney Drive area. Today police were making checks in the area looking for clues as to what he might have been doing at the time. Police say they have spoken to several persons who have provided useful information, and investigations continue. So far, no suspects have been named.
Finally, 8 weeks after being re-elected, the Briceño administration will have its inaugural session of parliament. It was announced today that the Fourteenth Session of the House of Representatives and the Fifteenth Session of the Senate will be formally opened next week Friday. It will. be an open air session in front of the Sir Edney Cain Building in Belmopan. The joint meeting of the House and Senate will start at 9:00 a.m. and will be aired live on Channel 7.
The reconstituted Ministry of Indigenous, Constitutional and Religious Affairs and Transport held its meeting today in Belmopan with 31 bus operators present. They came together to not only find common ground on moving the industry forward, but also to see how they can explore the idea of public private partnership to give the tattered and battered industry a fresh start. Jomarie Lanza was there:
Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "So we met today with all the bus operators who service our national highways. So about 31 operators here today and some of them brought their other members of the organisations and we wanted to first introduce ourselves, have a conversation with them and in the first instance make it clear that we have lots of issues in the sector and that we intend to solve these problems but we need to work together I think that was the central message. I also shared with them a vision that have which I shared with cabinet on Tuesday and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by the very good reception we got for this concept and during the next four weeks we will be travelling and meeting with them in their particular districts to continue that conversation and once we get full support for that we will go back to cabinet and then make that arrangement for this transformation of the sector."
It's not a cheap industry to function in, and the money has to come from somewhere for them to keep up with the quality and standards needed for a bus to be fit for the road. Zabaneh says they can get so much done by forming a public private partnership
Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport "And so if we have all the operators come together, agree and we form a company, we also include the terminals we have an evaluation of the entire sector daily using an independent auditor, determine their values within the sector we have the option that they will get to either take that value as shares in the company or a portion of it in the company or get paid out completely that will be their decision we have a company that is national now and one company can hire a highly qualified administrative team that supervises by a board and that then we are able to take care of many of the issues in that regard, the scheduling which is a huge problem where we have in some cases a lot of demand but few equipment or a lot of equipment and no demand so there is mismatch, those things can be resolved and we have as a public private arrangement where the company gets concessions from the government you can buy in bulk a company like that, get' its tires gets it's fuel gets all the inputs that have caused a very high cost industry to be barely making it and so they can not reinvest in their equipment right now but one single company that they own can now have economies a scale by all if these inputs, get lower costs and be able to do much better."
And in his new role as CEO, Chester Williams says that the Commuters are one of the most important stakeholders in this industry and must be taken into consideration. He adds that if the operators do not have the capabilities to provide that service at a standard then they will not be given permits.
Chester Williams, CEO Ministry of Transport "Commuters are paying for a service and these people have the ability to provide that service, we must ensure that it is provided in the most professional and humane way possible, to see buses on our highways that are dirty, buses where we can see the street from the flooring of the bus, buses where if it rains passengers get wet, it cannot continue we must do better and so in a short term we are looking at improving what currently exists by doing spot checks and more enforcement nd as minister has said on the longer term is what minister has explained earlier in terms of the PPP, process."
"Those conditions are placed behind the road service permit for a reason, it is placed there because we want to ensure that the recipient of those permits adhere to the law and what needs to be done to provide quality services to our people and so what they need to understand is that we are not going to be too hard and fast in terms of revoking licenses or permits but if the inspection is done, and the inspections reveals a breach of a condition what we have directed is that the CTO is going to override the bus owner and say to them we inspected your bus on so and so date and this is one fraction that we saw and then perhaps give a warning, and then perhaps maybe after 2 or three warnings then we move to the other level in terms of suspending your permit until you can do better. Again if we hold these bus owners accountable we will get better service out of them."
We also spoke to one of the most senior members in the industry, Mr Thomas Shaw who says while they are open to the idea of working with their new minister and CEO all they ask is that things are done in a manner which is fair.
Thomas Shaw, President, Belize Bus Association "Its just in the preliminary stage where as it's our first consultation we still have to go back to our membership it sounds good I support the initiative because I think by forming a company I think that would eliminate most of the problems and the hurdles that we have been facing throughout the years, just as I said as time progresses whatever has been discussed I think it has to be legislated to give operators that assurance that their investment will not go uncounted for due to the fact that we know from government to government and government changes you find out that we keep changing the goal post and we invent other things so that would be the main concern right now by the bus operators, but I spoke to some of my members briefly and they go for it but as I said we still yet have to have a meeting within our membership to see where we go from there."
"It's so sad to know that it took them so long to recognise that this is an industry because all the other industries were recognised and subsidised so if this industry were subsidised we wouldn't be where we are at right now and to be honest with you they should have treated it the way they treated the sugar industry, the way they treated the citrus but in the past what has been taking place whenever we bring up certain things it's an argument between both parties and we don't want that, we want to discontinue that. And as I said we are here to work we are not here in bitterness to actually say well we are not in agreement with what we are doing we are here to listen and see how we can better and provide a better system out there for the commuters."
On Wednesday night we gave you a snapshot of the police change of command ceremony. That's all that time would afford us because the event finished close to 5:00 pm in Belmopan. Tonight, we have a closer look at the optics and the language of an event that only comes along once every five years or so. Jules Vasquez reports:
The police change of command - is an event rich in symbolism - there is the color flag, denoting the department's history, and collective power and, this the sword of command.
They are transferred in solemn gestures from outgoing compol Chester Williams to the incoming head of state, governor general Froyla Tzalam to Anthony Richard Rosado in an elaborate ceremony.
Rosado now takes command of nearly three thousand officers - and is a sharp contrast in personality and style to his brash and outgoing predecessor: who held the post for a modern record of 6 years and four months.
Chester Williams, Outgoing Commissioner "Certainly, as I said before, it's a remarkable occasion and a historic moment in the history of the Belize Police Department."
And Williams - under whose command four drug planes were intercepted - has never been shy to toot his own horn:
Chester Williams, Outgoing Commissioner "While I can stand here and celebrate that under my command, we saw the lowest murder count in our country. I can also say that such achievement could not have been attained without your unwavering support. You were my backbone. You were the ones who were out there in their respective formations, respective regions, making sure that those police officers who work and your command do what needed to have been done for us to be able to attain the reduction in crime that we currently enjoy."
"I am proud to stand here today to say to you, my duty here is done. Today I officially reported off duty as the Commissioner for police."
"I end off by saying thanks to our Almighty Father for having guide me throughout my tenure as Commissioner of Police."
"I leave with my integrity intact, with my head held high, prepared to move on."
Moving on with the recorded number of murders for 2025 down 7 from last year - but the new Commissioner went far beyond mere statistics in his address - which was highly aspirational:
Dr. Anthony Rosado, Commissioner of Police "I see a future where our police department is not just an institution of law enforcement, but a beacon of trust, innovation and accountability. A future where every police officer is a guardian of the community, where technology and transparency work hand in hand."
"And where the streets of Belize are safer because we, dare to reimagine what policing can be."
"I see a future where the Belize Police Department operates with unwavering transparency and accountability, where every action is scrutinized, every decision decision is justified. And the bond between our officers and citizens, unbreakable. The use of force policy will be strictly regulated under a zero tolerance policy for misconduct.Every officer will be trained in de-escalation, held to the highest standard of conduct, and empowered to intervene when those standards are breached."
"We will dismantle the culture of impunity by establishing independent oversight, conducting regular audits and publicly sharing data on police activity. Because trust cannot exist in shadows."
"The road ahead is bold, but so is our resolve lets us move forward with courage, unity and unshakable belief in what we can achieve. The future of the security starts here, and it starts with us."
"The road ahead is long, but the destination is clear. A Belize where safety, justice and trust are not aspiration, but reality."
Big plans and they are going. to cost a lot - but while we don't know where he will get the money from - he certainly did get a vote of confidence from his Minister- who now gets to make a mark with a Commissioner of his choosing:
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries "Today marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter for our Belize Police Department."
"Our goal is clear to reduce violence, protect our communities and ensure that all Belizeans can live and raise their families in a safe and tranquil haven of democracy."
"Doctor Rosado, one of our foremost tasks will be to continue to foster unity within the Belize Police Department. We must break down any silos and encourage cross departmental collaboration and ensure that every officer feels valued and empowered in their respective roles."
"I am confident in Doctor Rosado tactical and technical ability to build upon the solid foundation left by his predecessors that will continue to propel the Department forward with innovation, integrity, accountability and the delivery of justice as his centerpiece objectives."
"We are confident in his competence to lead as a vicar of strength, discipline and vigilance."
"We will ensure that our officers are equipped to combat crime with precision and agility. By embracing technological innovation, we not only improve our policing profile but also demonstrate our commitment to keeping Belize at the forefront of progressive law enforcement strategies."
Of Rosado's years of service, Minister Musa said, quote, "Rosado is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience, both within the police department and beyond."
Belize has joined a growing list of countries seeking the return of cultural artifacts from the British Museum. But this call isn't coming from the government, or NICH-it's from the village of San Benito Poite in remote southwestern Belize.
The village sits on the site of Pusilha, an ancient Maya city. Between 1928 and 1931, British Museum expeditions removed carved stelae, altars, pottery, and even human remains-without consent from the Maya people.
Now, village leaders have submitted a formal resolution to the museum, demanding the return of those items and calling them the rightful heritage of their community. The resolution includes seven demands: the return of the relics, a $1 million repatriation grant to build a visitor center, a scholarship fund for local students to study Maya culture, and support for a community program on Pusilha's history.
None of the relics are on display. Many remain in storage, and some are not even catalogued. The British Museum has admitted it lacks legal title to the Pusilha collection.
The British Museum says it's reviewing the request, and a response is expected in two months.
The general election came and went, Tracy won, Shyne lost, then resigned, but the problem of the TWO-D-P persists tonight.
And that problem is that the matter of whether Tracy Panton's October 20th convention was valid. The court still has to make a decision on that. If it rules that the convention was invalid, well, that would leave Panton standing on a very weak wicket in her claim to leadership.
So, now, she's trying to cover all bases by appealing to the acting Chairman of Shyne Barrow's UDP to hold a National Party Council meeting.
She's asking members of the natonal Party Council to to sign a petition to trigger an NPC Meeting on May 17th. That petition will be sent to Deputy Chairman August who - according to Panton - thus far has "refused to assist." In a note to party colleagues she says, quote, "The petition therefore is the only remaining constitutional option we have at our disposal."
Panton tells her colleagues she needs to get it signed by this weekend and, quote, "We need to…move the party forward and end all the confusion that is being caused by Shyne in the public domain. "
On Monday, we told you that moviegoers felt bamboozled this past weekend after they went to the Ramada Cinema to see Sinners and were met with a bootlegged version of the blockbuster film. We spoke to one viewer who said that he was upset but that he kept his ticket stub in case there's a chance for some kind of refund.
Well, he'll have a chance to rewatch the movie in cinema quality. Ramada issued a press release today, stating, quote, "Due to an overwhelming number of requests, we secured a last-minute license to screen Sinners. In the process, the wrong file was downloaded, and with limited time before ShowTime, we were unable to replace it with the proper definition version prior to the screening." End quote.
They added that they will be hosting a complimentary re-screening of Sinners this weekend, but the catch is that you have to have your ticket stub from Sunday's show.
And despite evidence to the contrary, Ramada emphasized that, quote, "Our organization does not tolerate, support, or engage in any activities that infringe upon intellectual property rights or violate copyright laws." End quote.
And in other news, today the education sector saw its first EdTech Summit, aimed at integrating technology into the classroom. The summit had presentations along with exhibits of different technological resources that teachers can access. It also saw the launch of a new AI tool to make lesson planning a lot easier. Courtney Menzies was there today and has this story.
350 education stakeholders gathered in Spanish Lookout today for Belize's first National EdTech Summit. The goal is to integrate technology into education so that classrooms can become more interactive for the students. The Minister of Education explained that today's presentations are augmented by exhibits.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "Today we're actually having presenters making presentations on several topics of how you can incorporate technology into the classroom. But this is supported by what you saw upstairs, the exhibition that we have up there. We have several areas on exhibition and I believe the big thing here is the 501Academy and all the different platforms that can be found and it's so amazing, you know, if our teachers are going to be teaching about Belizean History, they can go to Belize archives. There are teachers who want to help our students with special needs, there's a particular area that they can do to so all in all really what we're hoping to do is to help our teachers appreciate and understand technology has a very important role in supporting education in the classroom."
And many of the resources - including 501Academy - are currently accessible for teachers and students. Requena added that one thing that stood out to him were robotics kits the Ministry provides.
Oscar Requena, Minister of Education, Science & Technology "What I saw was the whole use of for instance the robotics area. It's so amazing. We have these special kits that we know have at the Ministry of Education, we are making them available to schools and teachers and students can actually use these kits to put together the different robots. I saw one where they can actually construct like a weather instrument that can actually provide information on the different climate conditions and that kind of thing. It's just amazing. Back in my days, we did not have access to all this technology. But we are happy, the world is changing and we as the Ministry of Education, we continue to be very innovative."
And one of the highlights of the summit was the launch of Avatar Buddy, which is a helpful AI tool that can be used in the classroom. The co-founder explained more about it.
Stephanie Sylvestre, Co-Founder, Avatar Buddy "Avatar Buddy is a company that makes AI buddies and digital twins and today you saw on display some of the AI buddies that we created, 501 Historian, 501 Teacher Assistant, and Kriol 501 Historian. And so the 501 Historian is configured to act like an archivist to go through the archive and pull back information in a way that an archivist would and the Kriol 501 Historian is configured to bring back the information in both Kriol and English and it's just a part of being able to preserve our Kriol language. I'm hoping that we can add the other indigenous languages in short order. And then 501 Teacher Assistant is configured to help teachers with their lesson plans and how to leverage the curriculum available from the ministry."
"And I think that eventually, giving it to students in a way that students understand it's not the end product but it's a starting point that you then have to use to be able to customize it so you still have to learn the content area that you're asking it to help you with."
More information about the online resources available to teachers and students can be found on the Ministry of Education's website.
And in less harmonious news from the education sector, two teachers from the Corozal Methodist Primary School have been placed on administrative leave and a group of parents are up in arms over it. The parents allege that the principal has failed to address and find common ground on a number of their concerns. They may seem minor or superficial but it's a big deal for these parents - one of them being graduation, and child simulation month. Today they staged a protest in front of the school demanding that the teachers placed on leave should return, and their principal should properly consult them on school matters. Here's. what it looked like:
Barbara Acosta, Concerned Parent, CMS "We are protesting because they put out some of our teachers. I am not certain how much but what we are basing ourselves on is that she put out 2 of our teachers from the preschool that she didn't even help us in stimulation month. Well I am not a mother or none of the kids but I am a grandmother of my 7 year old and my 2 4 year olds that are in preschool. For stimulation month mam we went the whole stimulation month without not a help from the principal when we had cultural day. You know what she did, she stood from afar like that like she didn't want to be with us like she is too better to be with us. I think as a principal and an educated person that she calls herself that is wrong, cooperation is everything. This is the worst methodist school has ever been and all my kids went to this school. Me I live in Altamira. I have Guadalupe school, I live one lane from Guadalupe school but I chose Methodist school because I like the school but the way the school is now it's gone."
"We want better for Methodist and we want our teachers back. Like what she says, she said we either go by her appliances or we come out. Why should an educated person speak like that? That is not right you have to deal with the fact since it's going to be like a year now and only one time we have met with that principal."
Voice of: Concern Parent "It's not only the preschool teachers there are other teachers who are being victimized and well I have kids not only in preschool but I have kids in other classes and I have seen it and it's unfair."
"The main thing is the date, we are not agreeing with the date she wants the graduation to be along with the std 6 graduation which we refuse as the parents it's our money, we decide and we want to have a decision in this graduation we don't want it with the std6 graduation, we believe that they want their own separate graduation date which they can have time with their fellow classmates and they can enjoy it and take pictures. I had an experience which my son graduated from std 6 and my daughter graduated from preschool it was a clash because I had to run out and I couldn't take any pictures with my child I still do not have any pictures because I had to hurry rush out and get my son ready and get back for the other graduation I don't think that would work."
"We would hope that our teachers would come back because that is number one I guess she wants to come to a conclusion with us but does not want the teacher there because it's her personal preference of not wanting the teacher there either I don't what is her problem of victimising these teachers and other teachers in the school ground but the conclusion is I want the teachers back, those are our babies teachers and she was not there during the stimulation month she did not show her face and she told us the parents that th preschoolers did not give her an invitation and I don't think the preschool has to give you an invitation you have been dictating from day one."
We did reach out to the Principal Celeny Rhaburn for a comment but up to news time had not gotten a response.
One of her supporters told us the teachers wanted to change graduation to a different day without permission.
And finally tonight, in a different kind of agitation - PSU president Dean Flowers used the platform of the Labour day march and rally to make a strong indictment of various government actors in the Briceno administration. Here are his remarks made yesterday in Belmopan and posted on the PSU Facebook page:
Dean Flowers, PSU President "The mayor said today dignity in the workplace is non-negotiable. Denied due process. Worse still, honorable Florencio Marin is that the very ministry that you have inherited task with upholding labor rights stands accused of the same unjust practices it is mandated to prevent and let us be clear the labor department's intimidation of public officers engaging union activities is indefensible. Honor your mandate uphold the constitution, act now or history will judge your respective ministry as architect of oppression."
"You often forget that the privileges the privileges you enjoy were run by unions by our blood our sweat our strikes, hypocrisy poisonous progress. If you benefit from labor's struggle you have no right to betray it. Stand with workers, justice demands love and unapologetic solidarity."
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The Belize National Teachers Union has voted to take industrial action against the government. On Wednesday, 2,500 members participated in the countrywide vote. The action will take place in 3 phases - the first will be a demonstration, the second a two day national shut down, and the third will be a strike.
"I must say that yes I am aware of the demands that the teachers are making and I must say that we understand and respect that is their right to be able to voice their concerns, obviously the membership voted. Certainly, for us, we can understand and appreciate the concerns that they have. We have a duty as a government to sit down to discuss the issues that were brought up by the BNTU and I'm certain that Cabinet is going to advise on a plan forward."
And we also asked the new Minister of Education about the issue at Anglican Cathedral College where, once again, students were sent home because of their haircut. It's a recurring issue and the previous minister repeatedly stated that schools cannot send children home due to what they would deem as improper hairstyles. In this case, it was male students who had tightly tapered haircuts.
There was an unusual murder in Belize City last night - it happened on Coney Drive on the northside - where violence happens very rarely.
The reconstituted Ministry of Indigenous, Constitutional and Religious Affairs and Transport held its meeting today in Belmopan with 31 bus operators present. They came together to not only find common ground on moving the industry forward, but also to see how they can explore the idea of public private partnership to give the tattered and battered industry a fresh start. Jomarie Lanza was there:
"So we met today with all the bus operators who service our national highways. So about 31 operators here today and some of them brought their other members of the organisations and we wanted to first introduce ourselves, have a conversation with them and in the first instance make it clear that we have lots of issues in the sector and that we intend to solve these problems but we need to work together I think that was the central message. I also shared with them a vision that have which I shared with cabinet on Tuesday and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by the very good reception we got for this concept and during the next four weeks we will be travelling and meeting with them in their particular districts to continue that conversation and once we get full support for that we will go back to cabinet and then make that arrangement for this transformation of the sector."
Chester Williams, CEO Ministry of Transport
Thomas Shaw, President, Belize Bus Association 
On Wednesday night we gave you a snapshot of the police change of command ceremony. That's all that time would afford us because the event finished close to 5:00 pm in Belmopan. Tonight, we have a closer look at the optics and the language of an event that only comes along once every five years or so. Jules Vasquez reports:
Chester Williams, Outgoing Commissioner 
Dr. Anthony Rosado, Commissioner of Police
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries
Belize has joined a growing list of countries seeking the return of cultural artifacts from the British Museum. But this call isn't coming from the government, or NICH-it's from the village of San Benito Poite in remote southwestern Belize.
The general election came and went, Tracy won, Shyne lost, then resigned, but the problem of the TWO-D-P persists tonight.
On Monday, we told you that moviegoers felt bamboozled this past weekend after they went to the Ramada Cinema to see Sinners and were met with a bootlegged version of the blockbuster film. We spoke to one viewer who said that he was upset but that he kept his ticket stub in case there's a chance for some kind of refund.
And in other news, today the education sector saw its first EdTech Summit, aimed at integrating technology into the classroom. The summit had presentations along with exhibits of different technological resources that teachers can access. It also saw the launch of a new AI tool to make lesson planning a lot easier. Courtney Menzies was there today and has this story.
Stephanie Sylvestre, Co-Founder, Avatar Buddy 
And in less harmonious news from the education sector, two teachers from the Corozal Methodist Primary School have been placed on administrative leave and a group of parents are up in arms over it. The parents allege that the principal has failed to address and find common ground on a number of their concerns. They may seem minor or superficial but it's a big deal for these parents - one of them being graduation, and child simulation month. Today they staged a protest in front of the school demanding that the teachers placed on leave should return, and their principal should properly consult them on school matters. Here's. what it looked like:
"We are protesting because they put out some of our teachers. I am not certain how much but what we are basing ourselves on is that she put out 2 of our teachers from the preschool that she didn't even help us in stimulation month. Well I am not a mother or none of the kids but I am a grandmother of my 7 year old and my 2 4 year olds that are in preschool. For stimulation month mam we went the whole stimulation month without not a help from the principal when we had cultural day. You know what she did, she stood from afar like that like she didn't want to be with us like she is too better to be with us. I think as a principal and an educated person that she calls herself that is wrong, cooperation is everything. This is the worst methodist school has ever been and all my kids went to this school. Me I live in Altamira. I have Guadalupe school, I live one lane from Guadalupe school but I chose Methodist school because I like the school but the way the school is now it's gone."
And finally tonight, in a different kind of agitation - PSU president Dean Flowers used the platform of the Labour day march and rally to make a strong indictment of various government actors in the Briceno administration. Here are his remarks made yesterday in Belmopan and posted on the PSU Facebook page:
"The mayor said today dignity in the workplace is non-negotiable. Denied due process. Worse still, honorable Florencio Marin is that the very ministry that you have inherited task with upholding labor rights stands accused of the same unjust practices it is mandated to prevent and let us be clear the labor department's intimidation of public officers engaging union activities is indefensible. Honor your mandate uphold the constitution, act now or history will judge your respective ministry as architect of oppression."
