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Today the Minister of Education stood up in the House to make an announcement that will benefit the staff of all grant aided schools. Fonseca said that it has been an issue that has been an injustice to these teachers for a while and now the government is rectifying it. They will now be paying 100% of salaries and service benefits for those secondary and tertiary level schools. He explained more today.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"That decision is to pay the full, 100% salaries and service benefits of all grant-aided secondary and tertiary level educational institutions in Belize. This is a long standing issue, one I have long regarded personally as an injustice really, a historic injustice to the teachers who have been affected by it."
"So teachers and administrators, all teaching staff, will benefit from full 100% pension, allowances, and service benefits. And non-teaching, we have not forgotten the support staff, madam speaker, non-teaching support staff will receive full service benefits."
"Currently madam speaker there are 728 teachers at the 30 grant-aided secondary schools which represents 50.7% of secondary school teachers nationwide. The 151 lecturers at the 8 grant aided institutions represent 53% of tertiary level educators nationally. The combined population, 879 teachers and lecturers of grant-aided secondary and tertiary level institutions, will receive 100% salaries, full pensions, and service benefits starting 2024. At these grant aided institutions, there are 128 support staff at the secondary level, and 47 at the tertiary level. These 175 non teaching support employees will also receive 100% salaries and full service benefits as of 2024."
In a press release by the Grant Aided Managing Authority of Schools, they explained that in 2019, they presented a 12 page document to the then minister of education, which included a requisition for 100% pension for the teachers among other things.
The release says quote, "today we celebrate a significant justice done for our deserving teachers." End quote.
