It is estimated that in 1840 there were some seven hundred

pupils enrolled in schools in the settlement. That was about 9%% of

the total population which must have been close to 8,000
inhabitants comprised of a minority of whites, a growing number

of coloured with the vast majority being black inhabitants.

Drawing on the total number of children recorded in the 1823
census which was 978 and calculating at a 2% increase of that
number of children over a seventeen year period a very rough
estimate of the population of children in 1840 would have been
almost 1300 consequently those not in schoolwould have been well
over 53%. Therefore, it is clear that a large portion of the mixed
population of Belize at the time lived out their lives as illiterates.
Even so, when compared with the level of illiteracy in many parts of
the world even today, the Belize Settlement was making some
progress with regard to the schooling of its people just after slavery
was finally brought to an end. However, it must be noted that the
curriculum of the schools was basic. It included bible reading,
writing, spelling and arithmetic. The boys at the Honduras
Grammar School were also taught grammar and clocution and the
girls needlework. The change in the name from Honduras Free
School was probably an indication that there was an attempt to
move the curriculum to a higher academic level. However, there is
no certainty about this as some years atterwards there was a reversal

to the name Honduras Free School.

What we see in the rivalries among the missionaries in Belize for

pupils for their schools is the emergence of a dual system with the
Honduras Free School being fully financed by the government of
the Settlement and the schools of the dissenters being
supported by
slim resources from English missionary societies and by
voluntary
labour. Johnson states that initially £300 was allocated annually
from the public treasury supplemented by donations to run the
Honduras Free School. Subsequently, the operation of the school
became a regular charge on the annual budget of the Settlement.
The schoolmaster and the schoolmistress were provided with
regular salaries and with housing. In comparison, teachers in the
dissenting schools taught without the privilege of regular salaries,
working under the missionaries and their wives.

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