Education System in Belize
Despite facing stiff challenges the country has a literacy rate of approximately 77% as per CIA World Factbook. Primary-secondary gross enrolment ratio from 2006-2012 as per United Nations Statistics Division is 90.6/97.5. Today the country has developed its education system overcoming the past hurdles. Belize follows the British model in education. The government has made compulsory free primary education for all kids till the age of 14 years.
School Education System
There are 213 preschools, 572 schools including government and government aided as well as private schools and 52 secondary schools as reported by MOE - Education Statistics 2012-2013. Belize has provision of compulsory free primary education for all kids till the age of 14 years.
The entire school life of an individual is divided into 12 odd years. The first two years of the school are infant level. The next six years covers the primary level of the kid. The remaining four years come under secondary level. However, certain schools follow the curriculum of the North American system of schooling. Here the respective kid has to spend the span of twelve years in twelve grades including the classes of 9,10,11,12 in the secondary level.
The high expenses towards the school education after attaining free education up to the age of 14 years has forced many parents to discontinue their ward’s education at many stages. Two out of every five Belizeans overall ever complete high school and repetitions and dropout rates are high. As a result of this the government is taking efforts to eliminate the current difficulty such as the Belize Education Sector Reform Project (BESRP) to ensure that kids get their right to education but it might take some more time.
To overcome the quality issues in respect to education the private schools in Belize are successfully executing their service to the students. Well it is true that unlike government schools private schools charge hefty fees but ignoring the fact the quality of service is very good. Most of the well to do families now send their respective kids to the private ones. A majority of the public has opted for private schools.
Higher Education Opportunities
Belizeans had to depend on the neighbouring countries for access to higher education till 1990. But since then the situation has improved a lot. Today the government has taken every possible step to ensure better and quality education to the students eligible for higher education. The inauguration of University of Belize and Galen University is a step towards this initiative. This has shown positive results as a lot of the public is benefited through this kind of government initiatives. Today the country has a sizable number of higher educational centres across the country such as St John’s Junior Co Ed College, Corozal Junior College,Muffles College to name a few. Apart from these there are a couple of facilities for education for the economically poor students in the form of evening colleges.
The tuition fees vary with the nationality of the students. Those are the citizens of the country who benefit the most compared to other countries. The students of the developing countries have to pay more fees but in the case of the students of the developed countries the fees are the highest.There is a flexible dressing code in these colleges.
Apart from this the government has taken initiatives for providing vocational training and education to the poor students who generally cannot afford the high expenses of the education. This has indeed benefited a lot of students and made them empowered to change their lives.
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