PM Briceño Seeks U.S. $14 Million Loan to Support ITVETs

The Briceño administration is going after fourteen million U.S. dollars in funding from Taiwan’s ICDF and the IDB to boost technical and vocational education in Belize. Prime Minister John Briceño says the money will power a labor force and employability program, focusing on women, youth, and migrants. About eight-and-a-half million dollars will go straight into ITVETs, upgrading computer labs, covering training fees, providing student stipends, and even helping with personal equipment. The plan also aims to modernize the curriculum, set up career centers, and better connect students with employers. Here’s what the Prime Minister had to say.

 

Oscar Requena, Minister of Education

“It would be remise of me as the minister of education not to support this very important loan motion that seeks to improve and increase the output of trained professionals in particular skills areas that aligns with our national development needs. And I want to thank the prime minister and the honorable member form Freetown for having shared key goals and objectives that this loan motion seeks to achieve and address and I just want to say that the  statistics and data is there that one of our challenge is that we really lack a good cadre of trained professional, technical persons and if we are going to develop and grow our economy then it is imperative that ensure that our training needs are aligned to the national development needs and that there is a collaboration and deliberate effort at working with our industries, because they understand and know the need they have in terms of our skilled, trained, capacity.”