These are the textbooks that Belize's 64,405 thousand primary school children will be using next year in five core subjects: Those subjects are math, language, science social studies and Spanish. Half a million books costing $6.5 million will be imported in eight 40 foot containers - with the first shipment scheduled to arrive next week. They were presented to a full house at a press conference at the House of Culture this morning.
Maud Hyde, Chief Education Officer
"We are confident that we're putting into the hands of our children good high quality material."
It's a huge policy decision and undertaking to standardize textbooks and it has attracted a fair amount of criticism. But the Ministry is undaunted; Chief Education Officer Maud Hyde says this is the right thing to do at the right time for the right reasons:
Maud Hyde,
"Through this initiative we anticipate that we will lower the rate of dropout because many children are out there on the street because they don't have materials to go to school. So this will lessen the burden for parents. Many parents have three, four, five children in primary school and are unable, if they are able to get one set of books, it is probably for the one in the highest class or the class nearest to PSE. So this initiative will lessen the burden for many many parents and I know despite all the, we have heard some negative remarks and so on, I am sure that many many parents are celebrating this initiative."
Hon. Francis Fonseca,
"There are a few who have suggested an intention not to have their schools or students participate in the textbook program. This is unwise, unreasonable, and unacceptable. I remain everyone that this is not an optional program. The Ministry will exercise every authority to ensure full compliance with the program's objectives."
And the Ministry is also strict about book lists. Many have appeared requiring that parents get a parallel list of supplementary textbooks.
Hon. Francis Fonseca,
"No student should be required by a school or a teacher to buy any other textbook, should be required to buy any other textbook in those core subject areas."
And to make sure school managements get the point, Hyde has sent out a circular making serious threats for those not complying with the programme directives.
Maud Hyde,
"Schools that act outside the policy will be subject to removal from grant aided status. Teachers that place undue financial burden on parents to purchase additional textbooks in the subject areas stipulated and use textbooks in the classroom that are not aligned with the national primary curriculum and approved by the Ministry of Education shall be subject to having their licenses revoked."
But schools aren't the only ones that will have to comply. Parents will be required to sign a contract committing to have their children take care of the books - because textbooks will be passed on to the next year. Each book will have one of these inside; your child's name will be written here along with the condition they received the book in.
It's quite a change in how things are done, and these experts say that the first year will see bumps along the way - not the least of which are likely to be experienced when the Ministry has to process and distribute half a million books across the country.
Starting at the middle of this month, the Ministry will hold training workshops for master teachers who will then lead mass workshops in August. And we should note that the Spanish books are part of an objective to have standard six finishers functionally competent in the Spanish language. Read More

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