Belize
Studies conducted by the Belizean government and outside observers in the late 1980s indicated that between one-quarter and one-third of students enrolled in primary education left school before they reached fourteen, the minimum age at which a student could legally drop out. Dropout rates and absenteeism were higher in rural areas, largely because of the seasonal demand for agricultural labor and the perception that schooling beyond the basic level offered no increased opportunities. It is for this reason our goal is to give each child a laptop so that their education can travel with them. There are internet cafe in rural school buildings. Now your investment into their potential is requested; together everyone can impact their lives with couriosity and wonder with the gift of a laptop.
Graduating preschool Class of 2010 full of wonder and beauty
a great big bundle of potentiality
Young minds, eager to learn
these school houses have internet and electricity
In both rural and urban areas, students who dropped out of primary school (or, indeed, failed to attend) generally belonged to the poorest and least-empowered segments of Belizean society: the children of subsistence farmers, agricultural laborers, illegal aliens, and the inhabitants of the urban slums. Without primary school credentials, these individuals faced the continued prospect of lifelong underemployment or unemployment. This cycle can stop with your contribution of a laptop.
So much stagnant potential
inquiring minds want to know
Working together for a brighter future
half of Toledo’s teachers have no training beyond a high school degree and work in schools with scant resources
Selectivity in the education system intensified at the secondary level. No more than 60 percent of the students who graduated from primary school, or less than 40 percent of all children in that age-group, made the transition to secondary institutions. Again, the percentage of students entering secondary schools was even lower in rural areas, where less than one-third of eligible youth pursued education beyond the primary level as of the early 1980s. Although the construction of new schools in the districts had helped to alleviate this problem, the majority of rural youth still lacked a secondary education. http://countrystudies.us/belize/34.htm
Although government statistics claim a 93% literacy rate, the adult illiteracy rate estimated by UNESCO stood at 29.7% in 1995. Primary education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of five and 14 and includes eight grade levels. Secondary education covers four years and consists of either a general course of study or classes at a vocational or trade school. Most schools are church-affiliated but still supported by the government. In 1995, there were 51,377 pupils in 277 primary schools, with 1,976 teachers. There were 10,272 students and 758 teachers in secondary schools that same year. In 1995, it was estimated that 97% of school age children were enrolled in primary school. Approximately 36% of children (male, 33%; female, 39%) were enrolled in secondary school. In 1999 the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools was 23 to 1.
Read more: Education - Belize http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Belize-EDUCATION.html#ixzz0sTnKSUMg
Contact information --Rebecca Stanke 14:44, 2 July 2010 (UTC)