GOB Rolls Out Education Plan with $300 Million Budget Commitment

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology has launched its Belize Education Sector Plan 2.0, which sets out the changes expected for the next four years to improve schools from primary right through to university.

The plan, which covers 2026 to 2030, comes at the start of a new fiscal year in which the government has allocated approximately $300 million to the education sector as detailed in its recent national budget. At the launch, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca said the investment reflects a long-standing national commitment to learning.

“The Belizean people have always attached great importance to education,” Fonseca told the audience. “Year after year, they demand that their government invest in education. So we have a proud history in this country of investing in education.”

Fonseca added that money alone is not enough. He said Belizeans are right to ask how funds are being used. “We have often asked, quite rightly… What impact is this investment having on our education system, on the development of our country?” Fonseca said. “These are questions that are important.”

The Education Sector Plan 2.0 builds on the previous four-year plan that ran from 2021 to 2025, which the ministry said helped guide the sector through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key promises include expanded free education, more technology in classrooms, and upgrades to school buildings across Belize.

Fonseca outlined five core objectives at the heart of the plan. The first is expanding equitable access and completion at every level of education. “We want to make sure that when our students enter the education system, they don’t only access it, but they complete it successfully,” he said.

He added, “Every child in this country, every student in this country, wherever they live, Belize City or in the most remote rural communities of our country, should have equal access to quality education.”