BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 11, 2019– On Sunday, July 7, 14 students graduated from the country’s only virtual school, Kaina High School Limited, and are now equipped with high school diplomas to further their education.
This was the school’s sixth commencement exercise, the school’s founder, Ethnelda Paulino, told Amandala today. Alberita Enriquez, 68, is the co-founder of the school.
Paulino, 70, a lifelong educator, said that Belize does not have enough high school graduates, so that inspired her to start the school in 2014.
“The fact that we opened an online school is that we wanted to target many more Belizeans. We want them to become high school graduates,” Paulino explained.
“There are some strange reasons why people drop out of high school, a stick of weed or perhaps getting pregnant,” Paulino said.
“I thought that if we open an online high school and turn a blind eye to the errors young people make and educate them, Belize would probably do better,” Paulino offered.
“The name Kaina came from my mother; that’s what her siblings called her and it’s a term of endearment,” Paulino added.
We asked Paulino how one gets to enroll in the school.
“Prospective applicants just have to go to kina.edu.bz. Once you are on that page, on the right hand side you just have to click on the word application and the application opens for them,” Paulino replied.
Paulino said the cost for enrolling in Kaina High School is $100 for registration and $300 per semester. So it’s $700 per form, and because the school year has two academic years in one calendar year, two forms can be done in one year.
Paulino said that the school has an average student body of around 150 students and the school is certified by the Ministry of Education.
“When the students begin classes, they are trained to enter into the virtual classrooms and there they will meet their instructors,” Paulino explained.
Paulino has been teaching high school for most of her life and spent 10 years teaching English at the University of Belize. She is the holder of a degree in Adult Education.
Paulino said that all the instructors which joined the school’s staff when the school first opened are still working at the school. The school has about 12 instructors.