Teachers and Students at Julian Cho Technical High School Want Better Classroom Equipment

Teachers and students at Julian Cho Technical High School in Punta Gorda staged a small protest today, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by the school. The teachers and students expressed the urgent need for improved infrastructure to support students’ learning. They want fans and new desks and chairs to replace the ones that have become worn down and broken in some instances. The Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca, acknowledged the school’s dire situation, but he also explains that this is the result of years and years of corruption that plagued the institution.

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education: “Julian Cho we’ve had serious problems, there’s a whole Auditor General’s report about Julian Cho Technical High School under the previous government. Under the previous Ministry of Education that’s the one you need to go and dig up and find out all the abuse that was taking place at Julian Cho. We have brought in a new board that is taking strong measures to make sure that those abuses don’t continue at the school. So tough decisions are being made so I understand that some teachers and maybe students are concerned about certain conditions at the school and we are working to address them but we have brought in a breath of fresh air to that school which was mired,  absolutely mired in corruption, abuse all kind of crazy nepotism and contracts for this one and that one a complete abuse and that Auditor General’s report recommended that people should be criminally charged. Nothing, it was kept in a drawer under the previous government. So it’s a very serious matter. Julian Cho is a very important school and we are looking at everything to make sure that we can address those issues.”