Groundbreaking ceremony for new School and Malcolm's Licensing

My licensing took place at 10am on Wednesday April 23rd - because truth to tell, the licensing was actually a sideshow to the main event, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new St Ann's primary school. For that, the diocese had invited (L-R) Mayor of Belmopan, (Bishop), Governor General, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, and the Minister of Public Works - and they all agreed to attend.

As we've mentioned, many schools are joint projects of the state and a faith group. Schools are very important to all the christian denominations; religious instruction in schools is firmly denominational, and people will describe themselves as Anglican or Baptist or Catholic because they went to a denominational school.

There aren't enough primary school places in Belmopan at the moment, and everyone seems very pleased that the Diocese and the Government have reached agreement on the funding arrangements for this new one. We are told that the design for the new school has now been approved and planning consent granted, but we don't know when construction will begin.

So it was a good time to also rededicate the newly refurbished "Bishop Desmond Smith Memorial Centre" - Brother Desmond was an Anglican Franciscan who became Bishop of Belize - the new name for my teaching centre. They have put a lot of work into it - redecoration inside and out - and I'm very pleased. And of course, I was licensed by the Bishop.