GOB Legislates Commitment to Grant Aided Schools

The Government of Belize is making good on a major commitment to teachers. Under Proposal Twenty-Two, the Briceño administration pledged to fully cover the salaries and pensions of staff at grant-aided schools starting in 2024. That promise, hailed as a big win for educators, is now being written into law. But how much will this cost taxpayers? Education Minister Oscar Requena breaks down the numbers behind this historic move.

Oscar Requena, Minister of Education

“Subsection one of proposal twenty-two proposed that the ministry of education and the government pays the full one hundred percent salaries and benefits of all grants aided secondary and tertiary level educational institutions in Belize. This full salary payment would offer all qualifying teachers and administrators full one hundred percent pensions and service benefits for all staff, whether teaching or non- teaching would be honored. It is important to note that the Ministry of Education and the government currently pays a salary grant of seventy percent, moving it now to a hundred percent in proposal twenty-two. For 2024 the estimated seventy percent salary grant stood at thirty million nine hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and fifty-seven dollars and sixty-nine cents. The thirty percent additional salaries and service benefits increased by thirteen million two hundred and forty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty-three thousand and thirty cents. The projected allowance for secondary school students is seven hundred and ninety thousand three hundred dollars, bringing it to a total of forty-four million nine hundred and forty-nine thousand eight hundred and ten dollars and ninety-nine cents.”