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Educating Belize: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future

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Educating Belize: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future The University of Texas at Austin IC2 Institute Madison Weigand Dr. David Gibson UT Bridging Disciplines http://ic2.utexas.edu/ z EDUCATING BELIZE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE August 2015 BELIZE IC2 2 “Belize is paying a lot for education but getting little. More youth are outside the school system than in it and many fail to make the transition to the workforce. … Action is needed if Belize is not to lose a whole generation of youth.” - Inter-American Development Bank, “Challenges and Opportunities in the Belize Education Sector”, 2013 Belize: why we’re here Belize is a small nation in Central America, bordered to the north by Mexico, by Guatemala to the west and south, and by the Caribbean Sea to the east. Estimates of the national population vary from 340,000 – 360,0001, with population density averaging at 15 people per square kilometer2. In consideration of these low figures, Belize is often the forgotten nation of the Caribbean region. The small country, approximately the size of the state of Massachusetts, is occasionally omitted on regional maps and periodically has its sovereignty threatened by threats of invasion from the neighboring Guatemalan government (Rodriguez-Boetsch 6). In spite of its status as a sidelined nation, Belize is a haven of natural resources that have long been underestimated and underutilized. The country contains a broad spectrum of ecosystems and environments that lend themselves well to agricultural, fishing, and logging industries, as well as tourism—particularly ecotourism—contributing to the Belizean economy’s heavy dependence upon primary resource extraction and international tourism and trade. Though environmental assets are abundant in the small country, the population does not have adequate economic or educational infrastructures in place to maintain or engage the plentiful resources. 1 The Statistical Institute of Belize. The State of the Nation. 2010 2 The World Bank. Country Statistics – Belize. 2015. August 2015 BELIZE IC2 3 Source: Lonely Planet Maps, Belize. There is ample room for internal growth in Belize—as an English-speaking nation replete with natural resources; Belize could conceivably be at the forefront of environmental research and education, leading to sustainable resource development, as well as a hotspot for international tourism and investment. However, there are many limitations that inhibit the Caribbean country’s development economically and socially, such as pervasive poverty, large-scale emigration, and an unreliable infrastructure3. These disparate problems are all linked by one important facet of Belizean society: the education of its people. Recent literature suggests that a strong and effective education system is a necessary element in the development of a nation, and as the Caribbean region at large works to renegotiate the region’s global status through increased access to education for its people, Belize continues to lag behind in providing access to the basic resources which serve as a prerequisite for growth4. This report will firstly provide a description of the current manifestation of the Belizean education system, detailing its structural shortcomings and the social implications of those faults. Ultimately, the report will provide recommendations on how to better the education system in order to fully utilize the human capacity available within the country and aid in sustainable economic growth, 3 Osvaldo Castellanos 4 Inter-American Development Bank, Challenges and Opportunities in the Belize Education Sector. 2013. August 2015 BELIZE IC2 4 addressing the socioeconomic factors at play within the status quo as well as case studies of successful schooling models in Belize specifically and in the Caribbean at large. The status quo EDUCATION SYSTEM STRUCTURE The Belize Ministry of Education oversees the country’s school system. According to the Education Act of 1990, the national government will ensure access to a primary education program for children between the ages of 5 and 14 years old, for whom school is compulsory. The Belizean government partially finances both public and church-sponsored schools, guaranteeing the salaries of all faculty, though many expenses are left to be paid for by the school itself or by individual families. These additional expenditures, in primary school alone, can include textbooks, uniforms, computers, among other sundry fees, which often creates a financial strain for many students in Belize, wherein 31.6% of youth live in impoverished households.5 Though primary education is the only compulsory stage of education in the country, many parents elect to send their children to state-sponsored preprimary education, and many students are increasingly sensing the need to continue through secondary education after the completion of their requisite schooling. However, the cost of education increases dramatically after completion of the primary level—secondary education and all higher degrees require paid enrollment, which creates a very substantial financial strain and disincentives many Belizeans from pursuing an education past the primary level. The Belize National Selection Examination, administered at the end of primary schooling, determines access to secondary education and whether a student should enter general education or vocational training programs. At the end 5 The Caribbean Development Bank. Report #495 Poverty Assessment Report – Belize. 2002. August 2015 BELIZE IC2 5 of the four-year secondary education programming, students take the Caribbean Examinations Council Certificate and GCE Ordinary-Level Examinations to complete their secondary education and allow them to qualify for tertiary education if they elect to pursue further degrees. (UNESCO/IBE) There are 142 preprimary schools in Belize, 288 primary, 50 secondary6, and very few tertiary—tertiary programs are provided by 10 regional junior colleges as well as the University of Belize, Galen University, and the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies.7 Of the post-primary age population in Belize, comprised of 214,920 adults 14 years and older, 44.19% have reached only a primary level of education, 17% have completed a secondary degree, 7.84% have completed post-secondary schooling (vocational training, technical training), and just 3.89% have achieved a tertiary level of education. 19.85% of the post-primary age population never fulfilled their primary degree requirements. (SIB 2010) SOCIOCULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION The population of Belize is divided into 13 distinct ethnic groups. The largest of these groups is the Mestizo/Latino population (49%), followed by the Creole population (24%), the Maya Ketchi population (6%), and the Garifuna population (6%). Less than 5% of people identify with any of the other individual ethnic groups, though they collectively comprise nearly 15% of the population.8 The three most common languages of the country are English, Spanish and Creole, with English as the official national language, as a result of Belize’s long history as a British colony—the nation did not become fully independent until 1981, and still regards Queen Elizabeth II as the Head of State over the parliamentary democracy.9 Though the national population is generally accepting and peaceful even with the heterogeneity of the country, there is an evident disparity between each ethnic group as 6 "Belize." International Education: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues and Systems. 2013. 7 The Government of Belize. Ministry of Education. List of Deans, Junior Colleges and Universisties. 2015. 8 Statistical Institute of Belize. National Census. 2010. 9 The British Monarchy, The Queen and the Commonwealth. 2015. August 2015 BELIZE IC2 6 related to education. The table below, with information collected by the Statistical Institute of Belize in the 2010 census, shows that over 77% of the Caucasian population has completed secondary levels of education, though that ethnic subdivision comprises only 1.16% of the total national population. By contrast, only 24% of the Mestizo/Spanish/Latino ethnic group, with which nearly half of the national population identifies, has fulfilled a secondary degree of education. Population by Ethnic Group and Secondary Level Education Completion Ethnic Group % Population % Completed Secondary Education Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese) 0.96 56.90 Black/African 0.47 66.04 Caucasian/White 1.16 77.18 Creole 24.10 40.16 East Indian 3.60 35.16 Garifuna 5.67 35.22 Hindu 0.21 68.80 Lebanese 0.13 74.48 Maya Ketchi 5.95 11.41 Maya Mopan 3.76 16.31 Maya Yucatec 0.83 15.56 Menonnite 3.34 3.98 Mestizo/Spanish/Latino 49.22 24.04 Other 0.35 58.76 Not Reported 0.24 16.10 Table 1 – Statistical Institute of Belize 2010 A second interesting feature to note about the education of the Belizean population is the discrepancy between males and females. Importantly, women do not have restricted access to education in Belize, and actually tend to be enrolled at higher rates than men across higher education levels, as represented in the following table. Also, while Belize nationally has low retention and completion rates, females tend to fare better than their male counterparts at all levels. Two of every five children enrolled in primary school complete their primary schooling on time, with a 48% completion rate for girls and a 38% completion rate for boys. This statistic August 2015 BELIZE IC2 7 is reflected also in secondary-level completion rates, at which level 63% of girls and 57% of boys complete the requisite four-year education. Similarly, at the tertiary level, the graduation rate for women is higher than that of men, though the overall tertiary graduation is only 10 15.4%. School Enrollment by Education Level and Sex in 2010 Total Males Females Preprimary 6,933 3,476 3,457 Primary 67,047 34,092 32,955 Secondary 18,799 8,895 9,904 Tertiary 8,110 3,186 4,924 Table 2 – Statistical Institute of Belize 2010 Many analysts attribute these differences to the high level of gang-related activity in Belize’s largest urban epicenters, such as Belize City, as well as to the pressure placed on young men to find work that can help support their families.
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