Since Wednesday, there has been some disturbing reports about happenings at Sadie Vernon Technical High School. Reports are that on Wednesday, a stranger strode onto the school’s compound, allegedly with a firearm, to get even with a student.
On Thursday, police were called to the compound because a parent of one of the students alleged that a faculty member threatened him. Both times, students were sent home, keeping in mind that CXC examinations are underway and final examinations are to start this week.
On Friday, once again, students were sent home at around 10:30 a.m. because a second form student was stabbed in the chest with an ice pick by another student who was not attending classes, but was on the compound. The student was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where it was discovered that his wound would not end up being life-threatening.
As a result of this series of events, Minister of Education, Patrick Faber, and General Secretary of Belize National Teacher’s Union (BNTU), were called by the faculty to try to find a way forward.
Minister Faber met with the administration, as well as with the faculty, for about 3 hours. When the meeting was over, Faber told the media that as a part of the agreement for his intervention, all sides have agreed to a gag order.
With that he spoke to the media briefly, saying that he was called to intervene, but because Sadie Vernon’s governing body is the Board of Trustees, he has opted to get involved not as the Minister of Education, but as an experienced administrator and as an educator.
He said that he spoke with both administration and faculty, and they have decided on a group of steps to be taken so that the school can proceed with “business as usual”. Faber told the media that he will be returning after examination results are in, to see what can be done to improve the school and deal with some of the problems it currently faces.