BELIZE CITY, Mon. Jan. 3, 2022– In a recent interview, the CEO of the Ministry of Education, Diane Maheia, was asked about the government’s plans to reopen schools on January 10. Those plans, which involve a hybrid blend of online and on-site learning, are already in motion, and according to the CEO, over 419 schools have applied to reopen.
“Of those 419,” said Maheia, “we have 390 [schools] who are already approved, and an additional 96 that had already been open for hybrid learning before school closed for the Christmas holiday.” Among that 419 are schools from all levels, including early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, and TVET schools.
Hybrid learning, as the CEO explained, will involve the rotation of students, especially in schools with larger populations, as it is difficult to accommodate all students at once while maintaining the necessary social distancing that COVID-19 protocols demand. While some students would attend in-person classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, for example, others would attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Teachers, however, will be expected to be in the classroom full-time. And while there will be no mandate for teachers to get vaccinated, the CEO stated that unvaccinated teachers must continue to submit their negative COVID-19 tests. She also pointed out that vaccination remains the safest route for both educators and their families.
When asked if she believes that all schools will be approved and open for hybrid learning by January 10, Maheia had the following to say:
“We actually don’t have a hard and fast date of January 10th for everyone. We do want everyone to come back, but there were some differences in the dates as the schools requested…for different reasons. Some of them in their preparations needed a little bit more time for things that they were putting together. And so we’ve given them that leeway—that’s fine. But we do anticipate that by the end of January we should have everyone back.”
CEO Maheia estimates that over 50% of schools will be approved for reopening on January 10.