P.U.P. Free Education Manifesto Promise Rolls Out on Southside

The P.U.P. campaigned on a platform that included free education for high school students on the south side of Belize City. Now the first phase of that pilot program is about to be rolled out under what is called the Education Upliftment Project –Together We Rise. Today, Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca told reporters that the students of the four high schools flagged for the pilot program will not have to pay any school fees.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education & Culture

“We’re starting on the south side of Belize City with four government high schools: Gwen Lizarraga High School, Maud Williams, Excelsior and Sadie Vernon High Schools. What this will mean for the students who attend those institutions is that they will not have to pay any tuition fees. We are also instituting in those schools feeding programs. We’re going to provide transportation. We’re also, through our Student Welfare Unit at the Ministry of Education, engaging with the families, engaging with the school communities to make sure that we can also assist students who need basic supplies, whether it be uniforms, tennis, text (books), whatever. We’re also providing digital devices to those students who are attending those institutions. A very important part of it as well is infrastructure development of these institutions, as many of these institutions are at some level of disrepair.”