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More than 1,200 teachers and school leaders are taking part in Belize’s second National EdTech Summit, an initiative aimed at strengthening the use of technology in education and preparing the country’s education system for a digital future. The two-day event at the Belize City Civic Center, began yesterday with teachers from across the country participating in sessions focused on classroom technology, digital learning tools, and strategies to enhance teaching and learning. Today’s sessions were tailored specifically for principals and other school leaders, with discussions centered on digital transformation, leadership, and ways technology can be used to improve school systems and support student success. Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Francis Fonseca, says the continued focus on education technology forms part of broader efforts to ensure Belize’s students and schools are prepared for the future.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education: “It’s really all about the Ministry of Education engaging with our teachers and our school leaders and education stakeholders you know to really have a comprehensive, substantive discussion about the intersection of education and technology. So that’s what it’s all about. Technology is here, as you all know, artificial intelligence is here. So how do we use these tools that we have, these technological tools? How can we do our best at the policy level, at the leadership level, at the management level of our schools to ensure that we are using these tools effectively to improve the quality of education in our education system, to support our teachers, to support our students. That’s the whole objective of the summit.”
Director of Science and Technology, Namrita Balani, says collaboration among key stakeholders is necessary to ensure technology is effectively integrated into classrooms and schools across Belize.
Namrita Balani, Director of Science and Technology: “This year we framed it around teaching hacks, #teachinghacks, the largest brainstorming session in Belize. We’ve cut it down into four specific pillars. So how you hack time, how you could hack space, hack your imagination and hack the curriculum. A lot of times when you hear the word hack you think it’s a bad thing, right? But we’re teaching them hacks as in tips and cool ways that they could help save them time, help save space. A lot of times people think that AI should not be used. You know, that trying to change the mindset. So this year has been focusing specifically on changing the mindset and letting them know that transformation doesn’t begin with technology, it begins with leadership. It begins in the classroom. And we focused on not, you know, booths giving out promotional material or educational material. We focused on more like interactive booths. So go there there’s like 30 minute sort of hacking lab sessions that can happen and they’re learning something. So like the Digi Booth they’re learning how they could use Google Classroom, how they could use Microsoft, because these licenses for education are free. But sometimes the teachers and leaders don’t know how to use it, how to get started. So they’re sitting down through 30 minutes of session, seeing how they can get started, seeing the capacity of it and the capabilities of it. So I think that’s what the teachers have loved. We even have Belize Music Project. They’re teaching teachers how to make beats. We have Institute of Archaeology. We have the Jade Mask here as well. So it’s just been very interactive.”
The National EdTech Summit concluded today. It is the second of its kind in Belize, following the inaugural summit held in 2025 in Spanish Lookout. That first event brought together education stakeholders to discuss the growing role of digital tools in schools and the need to strengthen Belize’s readiness for a changing educational landscape. The initiative is a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, 501 Academy, Digi, UNICEF Belize, and the National Institute of Culture and History.
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