The Ministry of Education of Belize has issued a memorandum stating that the Primary School Examination (PSE) has been suspended until further notice.
The memo reads:
“Kindly note that schools will close at the end of the school day on Friday, March 20, 2020 as per announcement in the joint Press Conference held by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
In view of this decision, the Ministry of Education is now asking all schools to immediately finalize their home-based learning plans. The objective of these plans is to provide meaningful engagement for students during the 2-week period (March 23-April 3) when they are not in school. These plans are to be shared with the respective Managing Authorities of each school.
The home-based learning plans should consider the following:
1. A strategy for communicating with parents about student engagement.
2. A design for promoting continuous learning in priority areas during the period of closure. Note that specific curricular topics and practical activities for each class level should be identified and the medium of learning should be determined (i.e. electronic, online educational resources, paper-based, workbooks, etc.)
3. A clear plan to assess students’ learning.
Note that the Easter break will remain as scheduled in the school calendar. However, the following activities will be suspended until further notice:
* The Primary School Examinations scheduled for March 30 and April 30.
* District Level Festival of Arts scheduled for week of March 16 – 20
* School-based activities that require 100 or more students to congregate in the same space.
Please note that in the interest of promoting healthy practices and good hygiene, the National Hand Washing Awareness Day will still be observed on Thursday, March 19. Class teachers are asked to spend the morning educating students on how to properly wash their hands and teaching them other safety measures.
As soon as there are new developments, periodic notifications will be sent to all partners in education.” – End of Memo
