Government plans expanded investment in education including free secondary schooling and national feeding program

The Government of Belize is preparing to make another major investment in the country’s education sector in the upcoming fiscal year to expand access to quality education and strengthening support systems for students nationwide.  During an interview today with Prime Minister John Briceño, he emphasized that education remains one of the highest priorities for his administration as it continues implementing reforms aimed at improving opportunities for Belizean children and young people.  The Prime Minister noted that the government’s Free Education Program, which has already brought financial relief to thousands of families, is expected to expand further with the long-term goal of covering all secondary schools across the country. According to Briceño, the initiative is part of a broader strategy to remove financial barriers and ensure that every Belizean student has the opportunity to pursue secondary education.  Another critical component of that strategy is the school feeding program, which the government intends to extend nationwide. The Prime Minister explained that ensuring students receive at least one substantial meal while at school is vital not only for student well-being but also for improving concentration, attendance, and overall academic performance.  Briceño also indicated that the government will place renewed emphasis on strengthening technical and vocational education, recognizing the importance of equipping young people with practical skills for the workforce.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “The TVETs. That’s a project that the PUP government started with I think about $35 million that we did in 2006/ 2007. Unfortunately, the UDP never gave it its importance. We believe it’s important for us to train our kids, those don’t go to high school to be able to have a profession. So we are going to be investing several millions of dollars to be able to put new equipment and and new programs, and more importantly, to be able to make it available for women, to be able for us to retrain them, to retool them, to be able to be a part of the team. And then Itz’at academy. It’s a STEAM, one of the first STEAM high schools in the region, we have it in Belize City. Now we have, I think, about 300 students, free of charge to all of these kids. And what we are doing now, very innovatively setting up pavilions in every district. So we’re going to have one in every district. And instead of building new buildings, what we’re going to do is via the fiber we’re going to be connecting these schools so that our children outside of Belize City could also have access to the STEAM program.”

In outlining the broader direction of the education agenda, the Prime Minister highlighted the leadership and long-term vision of Francis Fonseca, noting that the ministry has been working on reforms aimed at improving access, quality, and relevance across the education system.  The Prime Minister also pointed to upcoming support from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, explaining that funding from the international partnership will play a key role in helping Belize strengthen education infrastructure and systems. The investment is expected to contribute to improvements in school connectivity, facilities, and other initiatives aimed at modernizing the learning environment.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize:  “I want to commend Minister Fonseca for being innovative, for having this vision on how to transform education. Under the MCC, we are going to invest another $50 million US and a part of that is to be able to work with the teachers, to retool them, to re skill them, to educate them, to ensure that they can be able to teach the kids to prepare them for the future, to prepare them for the economy of the future.”

With the budget reading earlier this week, we can tell you that the total government expenditure for the 2025–2026 fiscal year, ending March 31, stands at $1.68 billion, representing 24.1 percent of Belize’s Gross Domestic Product. Of that amount, $275.3 million was allocated to education.  Looking ahead to the new fiscal year beginning April 1, several targeted education investments have already been identified. These include 2.6 million for the Healthy Start Feeding Program; 2.2 million to expand internet connectivity to schools and 13 million allocated for education grants.