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BNTU and MoE reconcile
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Posted: 07/09/2007 - 09:42 AM
Author: Adele Ramos

After meeting with the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) and general managers of primary schools on Monday, August 27, the Belize Ministry of Education has announced another corrective measure to address complaints regarding the Chispas Spanish book that the Government has imported to be used in the free textbook program.
 
The BNTU had demanded that the Government return the books to the publisher, Hartcourt Education Ltd., because some of the books in the series included Belize as a part of Mexico. This, said the BNTU, was not only an affront to Belizeans, but a violation of the Belize Constitution.
 
The Ministry of Education will not be sending back the books. Instead, it has decided to make another concession – that is, to have a locally printed version of the map available to students, so that they can use it as an insert in the Chispas books.
 
As we had reported last Thursday, the publisher had agreed to correct the map error in the next edition of the book, and in the meantime provide corrected wall maps for use in schools.
 
The BNTU says, however, that this still does not correct the problem, because it means that the books with the erroneous maps would still be distributed in schools.
 
The meeting of Government, BNTU and school managements held on Monday was not without its share of tension and fiery debate, but reports to our newspaper are that the solution agreed for the Chispas books is deemed workable for the time being.
 
According to an official release from the Ministry, the publisher will provide 3 wall maps to each primary school in the country and will reprint the text with the necessary corrections within 4 to 6 months.
 
For its part, the Ministry describes the corrective measures as “a lasting, good faith solution.”
 
Still, BNTU president Jaime Panti underscored that while the free textbook program is conceptually a good one for students, one of their major concerns was that the Government moved too hastily with its implementation, and did not properly consult with all the parties concerned – meaning teachers, school managements and the BNTU.
 
In its press release, the Ministry said that it would like to reiterate its position, that “…the only textbooks students are required to have in the five core subject areas [Math, Science, Social Studies, English and Spanish] under the programme are the books provided by the Government. While managements and schools are free to supplement the texts with their own resource materials, parents should not be required to purchase any other textbooks.”
 
We understand that the textbooks are being distributed to schools across the country this week, the distribution having been delayed a week due to Hurricane Dean.
 
The task of the Government will be to distribute over half a million books to almost 300 schools throughout the country, and from there it will be the responsibility of the schools to ensure that each primary school student gets a packet of books when the new school year begins.
 
The Ministry of Education has provided a standardized list of over 60 books for students from Infant 1 to Standard 6.
 
According to the Ministry, the program will require the investment of $6.5 million of public funds, and will impact 60,000-plus public school students.
 
Monday’s meeting at the Belize Institute of Management to discuss the BNTU’s concerns with the free textbook program, came at the request of the BNTU. However, the BNTU also took the opportunity to initiate a discussion on the impact of Hurricane Dean on schools, and a pledge by the Government to provide financial assistance to cover educational expenses for students in northern Belize who were seriously affected by Dean.


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