BNTU Stands Firm Behind Stella Maris Teachers Amid Little Gabriel’s Death

The BNTU President, Nadia Martin-Caliz, says the union stands behind the teachers at Stella Maris School following the tragic drowning of 6-year-old Gabriel Orellano.

Little Gabriel was an autistic and mute student who wandered out of the school compound unnoticed and tragically drowned by the Hangar area in Belize City.

Martin-Caliz defended the teachers at Stella Maris by pointing out the challenges those teachers face in special education. While she stated there is importance in taking accountability, she assured the teachers that the union stands by them.

“Everybody who saw that child failed that child. Let’s start there,” she stated.

She added, “I can tell you that these teachers have been registering some of their challenges with the ministry.”

Martin-Caliz commended Minister of Education Francis Fonseca for “not attacking the teachers.” Martin-Caliz said she is “of the opinion” that Fonseca has seen the documentation and concerns raised by the Stella Maris teachers and that he now recognises those concerns are valid.

She added that the union stands strongly behind the Stella Maris teachers, saying, “We stand behind them as a union. We’re going to give you all the support that you need. And if the evidence is showing that maybe there’s a little slip here and there, then we need to put the system in place to correct that.”