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The minister who spearheaded the design and implementation gave us an update today on the progress of this transition in schools across the country. In a recent assessment they were able to identify their shortcomings and positive outcomes. He told us what those were.

Louis Zabaneh, Minister of State Ministry of Education
"We've had an international organization that did in fact made a presentation a month ago or so. They did an independent study and found that we are making good progress along the lines of implementation across-the-board. There are concerns that we anticipated would be there a big part of that has to do with teacher preparation, that was already conceived as something that we need to work on unfortunately, we have that as a major component of the program of the MCC the millennium corporation to be able to focus on retraining and training of our teachers, and then we have the whole entire reform of teacher education programs so that is one of the areas. Another area is again something we have heard over and over that has to do with having the necessary wherewithal for teachers to be able to implement competency based education.. having the proper equipment and so forth, so those are things that we knew that we have to work on going forward and it is a work in progress."

New Currency Notes Will Be Introduced In January

The biggest news coming out of the Centrak Bank Press Conference was the formal announcement about the new currency notes featuring George Price and Phillip Goldson, and NOT featuring the deceased monarch Queen Elizabeth the second.

Governor Kareeme Michael gave and overview and stressed that, of course, the value of the currency which is set in law, will not change, and that, in fact, they had to stop using the Queen's image because of a stipulation by the British - based printer of the notes:

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank
"I can officially announce to you that in January 2025, the Central Bank will unveil a new design to enhance security and counterfeiting protection while celebrating the legacy and heritage of Belize."

"I must stress that while our new bank notes will look different, the value remains the same. Design does not equal value. A dollar is still a dollar, or a rate of exchange rate remains the same, which is two Belize dollars to one US dollar."

"And just again, for more information, the removal of the monarch's portrait is not novel. This is not unique to Belize by any means. Belize will be joining a growing list of Commonwealth countries that once featured Queen Elizabeth II on their money, but no longer do today."

"The new Belize currency designs will honor recipients of the Order of the National Hero, Right, Honorable George Cadle Price and Honorable Phillip Goldson. Later next year, and I'm projecting probably in the late third quarter, maybe, the notes will enter into circulation and be ready for you to use."

"Stay tuned, the reveal will be in January 2025."

Reporter
"Did it originate from the Central Bank? Did it originate from Cabernet? We know for sure it didn't originate from the people."

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank
"With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Central Bank was, it was made very clear to our Central Bank that when in the ordering of our current family of notes, that there will be a cut off point where we will be allowed to keep ordering notes with Queen Elizabeth. There was a workaround where we could have back dated, but mine, I don't like back date anything. So, the other option then is, well, you have to make sure you put the new head of the monarch on your notes."

"And we were faced with that decision and obviously that presented an opportunity for us to really consider should we continue going this way. And this is where that pivot began."

Finnegan's Fables Part 1: Disability

And turning away from hard news - you can call our next three stories, "Finny's Fables." We got Michael Finnegan - who is the subject of a new biography - to speak about the deformity in his hands and the role it played in his life. Indeed, he is acknowledged as the only person ever elected to parliament with a disability.

He said his childhood was full of schoolyard abuse, until someone saw him:

Finnegan's Fables Part 2: Hunger

And apart from being crippled, Finnegan also spent many days and nights hungry. We asked him about the hard won lessons from that:

Finnegan Feeds Friends

And he has lived up to that generosity. Finnegan famously cooks for his friends and many you would consider his foes. Today the Cabinet Secretary explained how - when he was in opposition - he became, basically, Finnegan's runman to John Briceno:

What Is "Brok Makachista?"

The Institute of Creative Arts is presenting 2 dance showcases this weekend titled "Brok Makachista" which will feature performances by The Modern Dance Movement, Belize Afro Dance Formation, The Belize National Dance Company, and a number of other groups and solo artists. So what is "Brok Makachista"? Well, if you know, you know - but if you don't, here's what the ICA Director told us: