Five-Year Education Program Promises Stronger Schools, Better Futures

A quarter-billion-dollar investment in education is promising to change more than what happens inside Belize’s classrooms. The goal is to ensure that when students leave high school, they have the skills to continue their education, land a decent-paying job or start a business of their own. That five-year effort is now underway, bringing Belizean and American educators together to strengthen teaching, school leadership and workforce preparation. News Five’s Shane Williams reports.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

For thousands of Belizean students, the real test of education comes after graduation. Can they move on to higher learning, find meaningful employment or create opportunities for themselves? A new five-year program under the two-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar Belize Compact aims to improve those outcomes by strengthening the country’s secondary education system from the classroom up. The Equipping Secondary Education Program Partnership, known as ESEP, will train school leaders, teachers and teacher educators to deliver Belize’s national competency-based curriculum more effectively.

 

Drake Warrick, Chief of Party, School to School International Program

“Equipping Secondary Education Program Partnership, ESEP is what we’re gonna call it for short, will strengthen secondary education in Belize by equipping school leaders, teachers, teacher educators to deliver the national competency-based curriculum and better prepare students for further learning and employment. This is gonna happen through four connected areas of work. The first being strengthening school leadership, provide practical continuing professional development for teachers, improve pre-service preparation teaching practice and induction and expand curriculum-aligned teaching resources through enhanced 501 Academy and Teacher Learning Institute platforms These four components are designed to provide support that reaches the classroom.”

 

The program combines four areas that directly influence what students experience in school: stronger leadership, continued training for teachers, better preparation for new educators and wider access to curriculum-based teaching resources. But Prime Minister John Briceño says the program cannot be judged by its launch, the money invested or the number of people trained. He says success will depend on whether Belizean students leave school better equipped to build a future.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“ Today is only the beginning. The real measure of our success will be what happens in our classrooms. That is to say that the best results will be watching more young Belizeans leave high school better prepared to further their education or to get a good job earning a living wage or to start their own businesses. Our ambition then must reach further. It has to be talking about stronger schools, productive enterprises and lasting opportunities for generations of Belizeans.”

 

The initiative brings together the Ministry of Education, the University of Belize, MCA Belize and American partners, including School-to-School International and Florida State University. They will work with secondary-school teachers and administrators to strengthen instruction and leadership. U.S. Ambassador André Bauer says the exchange will not flow in only one direction. He expects educators and institutions in both Belize and the United States to benefit from the partnership.

 

André Bauer, U.S. Ambassador to Belize

“Over this next five years, we’re going to bring US excellence and teacher training  over this next five years, we’re gonna bring US excellence in teacher training and instructional leadership to Belize, and I think this is a win-win partnership for Belize and the United States that bilaterally benefits both countries, and it’s gonna benefit Belizean secondary schools as well as American educational institutions. This is really a remarkable partnership. STS, FSU, MCA Belize will all partner with the Ministry of Education and the University of Belize to provide secondary school teachers and school leaders with the training, resources, and leadership opportunities that will support them to deliver high-quality educational opportunities for all secondary students.”

 

The five-year clock is now running. Organizers hope the training and resources introduced during that period will remain in Belize’s education system long after the program ends. Ultimately, the results will not be measured at conferences or ceremonies. They will be measured in classrooms and in the number of young Belizeans who leave school ready for higher education, the workforce or an enterprise of their own. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

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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