And in other news, yesterday we told you that UB's Faculty and Staff Union issued a press release criticizing the government for not following through with its promise to reinstate their subvention, which was slashed by 24.2% in 2020 by the UDP. It reduced the subvention from $11 million to $8.34 million, which had massively impacted the school's operations.
Today the National Trade Union Congress of Belize echoed the UBFSU's call for the PUP to honor its commitments to the university. They are demanding immediate restoration and even an increase in the subvention, considering that the PUP had also criticized the then UDP administration for only raising it by $1 million in a decade.
The Ministry of Education responded to the UBFSU by stating that the government currently provides an annual subvention of $7.6 million to UB, and that they have provided scholarships and financial assistance to UB students to the tune of $7.5 million annually from 2020 to 2023.
The UBFSU anticipated this response, and yesterday stated that while they acknowledge this, scholarships for students doesn't replace funding for the school.
MOE's release continued by noting the level of support they are providing to individual members of the faculty and staff to further their education and upgrade their capacity to serve the school.
Which, of course, also does not take the place of slashed subvention.
The release also states, quote, "The Ministry's objective is to have a clear plan for the sustainable, responsible financing of the national university. An element of that plan is to increase the subvention to UB from the current level to BZ$10M in the 2025/26 financial year." End quote.
The university's president, Dr Vincent Palacio, declined to comment when we met him at an event today.
