Teachers Demand Help with Annual Classroom Expenses

For years teachers have complained about the expense they incur when preparing their classrooms ahead of the new school year. Well, President of the Belize National Teachers Union, Nadia Caliz says she continues to hear those cries. According to Caliz, the union has consistently made calls on the government to establish a resource allowance for teachers. Caliz says it’s no longer a request, but now a demand as she promised teachers that this will be the last school year they go without it.

 

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU

“My teachers, I want to say this to you out there today, we understand, or as your leader, I understand, the council understand that we have to and we will go after our resource allowance. This, and if you don’t know what is the resource allowance, in Grenada, in Saint Lucia, and I am proud of my brother from Grenada, when he shared at the last Caribbean Union of Teachers Executive Meeting how the government has decided that every August they are going to give their teachers a particular grant to assist them with eh acquisition of school resources. And in Belize we have been asking for this over and over again. They have listened, but did they truly hear us. They have listened, but are you really listening. This is the last September, and I am saying this, the last time, our educators will be going into their pockets to provide these resources.”

 

The question is whether the Briceño administration will be able to find the funds within its annual budget to carve out space for resource allowances.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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