Census Training Underway for Data Collection in May

Diana Trejo

It usually happens every ten years, but due to the pandemic, the Statistical Institute of Belize is preparing to launch the 2022 Census. Households across the country can expect to see S.I.B data collectors at their front doors in just a few months. For now, it’s all about the training. Diana Trejo, the Acting Director General, says this is proceeding on schedule and with safety uppermost in mind.

Diana Trejo, Acting Director General, S.I.B.         

“We are on track. We are on schedule for our preparation with the census. We are right now in the second week of our first round of trainers. We are doing our training-of-trainers last week and this week. That is on schedule. We have our training of field supervisors that will be taking place in March. And then, we will be training our seven hundred and change interviews in April. Households can expect that we will be out in the fields conducting data collection in the middle of May. Census Day is May the twelfth. So, after that they can see our data collectors out in the fields. I want to emphasize that because this is a face-to-face activity. There really is no other practical way to do it to get accurate information and such a large amount of information, so we are taking all possible precaution to ensure that our data collection is done safely. Consideration for the respondents, considerations for the staff, to ensure that we are in and out of the field as quickly as possible, and that we do the data collection as safely as possible.”