UB facilitating training for teachers from the south

silvaana udz

It is widely known, though not acceptable, that more than fifty percent of Belize’s teachers are untrained and uncertified. In 2009, the Ministry of Education started a teachers’ training program and offered scholarships to address that problem. The University of Belize is one of the institutions facilitating the process and while that is underway, UB is taking on another initiative to attract trained educators into the school system. The flagship university successfully submitted a competitive bid to the European Union for a grant of one point two million Belize dollars to train teachers in the Banana Belt communities in the south. The university’s Public Information Officer, Silvaana Udz, told us via phone about the training.

Via Phone: Silvaana Udz, Public Information Officer, UB

“The University of Belize is very excited that its bid was accepted by the European Union to provide training for the Banana Belt communities. The bid for the grant is one point two million dollars and it will be over a three year period—that’s Belize dollars. The faculty of education and art will be the lead department in charge of implementing this through the University of Belize and it’s envisioned that quite a bit of internet communication and distance education will be used as well of course as onsite support to provide training to the teachers in these communities. The grant was approved to the Ministry of Education for the strengthening of social infrastructure. So it is not just training for teachers but also parents in these Banana Belt communities  to support the training being done in the classroom as it were, even it it’s the virtual classroom.”

Delahnie Bain

“Any reason why specifically the Banana Belt communities?”

Via Phone: Silvaana Udz

“The funding is being provided by the European Union under its Banana Support Program. So its Banana Support Program had this option or this aspect of teacher education training, which in turn then will impact significantly, we hope, the primary schools in the Banana Belt Communities. The training begins immediately. Immediately meaning the logistics and so on get going immediately because certainly it has to be stepped up so that has already begun. The actual training then will occur in another month or so we expect. But the actual start-up; getting the infrastructure in place and personnel in place, that has already begun.”

Dr. Santos Mahung, UB’s President signed on the university’s behalf while CEO in the Ministry of Economic Development, industry and Consumer Protection, Yvonne Hyde penned the documents on behalf of GOB.