body,td,th { font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; }
Government invests the greatest share of public funds in education - but according to a public expenditure review by the World Bank, it's not getting back what it invested. That leaves Belize without a well educated workforce. And the root of that problem - lies in poor teaching - according to the review.
That hard truth and many others are contained in the findings of the Belize Public Expenditure Review, which was launched today at the San Ignacio Hotel. That review is among the most critical and commonly used tools by countries to help diagnose spending problems.
And Belize has a big one; it spends and spends on health and education but gets little in return.
Minister of State for Finance Chris Coye discussed the inconvenient truths:
Chris Coye, Minister of State - MOF
"Some of them are not, well, How would I put this. It might not be popular, but they are frank. And what we we certainly have noted and this is consistent with other assessments that have been done, is in for example, in the case of education, Belize, as our country spends a higher percentage of its total public expenditures on education. But we are not getting the results consistent with the findings of the Millennium Challenge Corporation."
What we're seeing is, notwithstanding the level of expenditures, the relative level of expenditures comparative to other countries in the region, we are and the learning outcomes are certainly subpar. And that in part has to do with the low quality of education that is being given. The teachers play a role in that. And so we have to look at how do we improve the quality of education being provided by improving the quality of teaching that is being given.
"And it specifically looks at health expenditures, education expenditures, climate change expenditures, public sector wage bill expenditures, and we get good insight and from the findings and also the recommendations that they put out in the review. And once again, in that in that instance, Belize does spend, relatively speaking, compared to its neighbors in the region, a high percentage of its total public expenditures on health. But the results are also subpar in connection with that. We clearly have challenges in attracting and keeping personnel. So we have to look at new ways. How to keep and manage the HR for health. But beyond that, we also have to look at the quality of health care that is provided."
The study identifies opportunities to improve education and health services, which could convert spending into better results. It recommends health and education financing reforms, stronger accountability mechanisms, and other effective policy strategies to improve the productivity of schools and health facilities.
