NATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION CONFERENCE COMMENCES

September 08, 2006

People engaged in the delivery of tertiary level education in Belize will for the next two days look at ways of improving that service.  Speaking at the opening ceremony for the 2006 National Tertiary Education Conference, Education Minister, Francis Fonseca shared details of how his Ministry is seeking to improve the system.  Fonseca said the records reflect that there are more females enrolled in tertiary level education than males.

Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca

“That ratio shift decidedly in favor of female students with them accounting for three thousand of the total four thousand four hundred and sixty four enrolled students. There are ten recognized tertiary level institutions in Belize. The University in Belize has some one thousand and sixty students enrolled in Associates degree programs, some nine hundred in Bachelor’s degree programs and some one hundred and seventy in Certificate programs. In addition to this there are presently sixty-six students on professional and technical scholarships at the University of the West Indies at an annual cost of one point six billion dollars. Twenty-nine students are being supported at the UWI Belize Campus, One Hundred and fifty-three in Cuba at an annual cost of three hundred and ninety thousand dollars and one thousand fifteen students being assisted at the University of Belize by the Ministry of Education at a yearly cost of one point three million. This is in addition to the seven point five million dollar grant.”

Fonseca also spoke of what is being done with recommendations made with reference to tertiary level education at the Education Summit of 2005.

Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca,

"Let me briefly report that of the twenty-one specific recommendations made at the summit relating to tertiary education, fifteen are being actively implemented by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with tertiary institutions. These range from increased scholarship opportunities for students and faculty, strengthening the national quality assurance framework to reviewing salary scales and strengthening the tertiary education unit of the Ministry, Central recommendation and theme of the summit was to ensure that tertiary education policies reflected the National Development Goals. This will undoubtedly remain a central theme in our discussion in the next day."

Prime Minister, Said Musa, who gave the keynote address, was philosophical in his speech.

Hon Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize

“To what degree is there a sense of national solidarity and a focus on development? To what degree is there a sense of trust in this society? TO what degree is there a shared vision and a willingness to pull together and a sacrifice for the sake of national development. What role does higher education and the University of Belize in particular have to play in all this. It surely cannot be to develop an intellectual cadre of elites, divorced from their community and society nor can it be to cultivate a distinct culture of distrust and negativity that leads to a climate of skepticism and cynicism which assumes a life of its own as every action in public life is credited with the most questionable and outrageous motives. We cannot build a nation to its full potential where the best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity. The role of the University must be to cultivate a more informed, more empowered citizenry in view that positive attitudes and ethical values. It should certainly be the host for the trading of technicians and professionals and a center of technological and scientific research but at the center”

The conference ends tomorrow evening at the Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City.  Meanwhile, Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize, Joseph Shih, this morning handed a cheque for over 800 thousand dollars to Prime Minister Musa to be used towards the Regional Language Centre, as the Prime Minister highlights.

Prime Minister Said Musa

“It is an ongoing program that we have between Belize and Taiwan that the Government of the Republic of China and Taiwan that they assist us with education, particularly in the field of tertiary education. We have made previous payments before and this is another payment towards the fourth program so we’re very grateful for that.”

Marion:

“I have heard you mention that it’s going towards technically the Regional Language”

Prime Minister Said Musa:

“It has been going towards the regional language center and we work very closely towards the University of Belize. Right now they’re facing other financial constraints that some of this will go towards as well such as the maintaining for instance of the student fees to the levels where they are. As you know the University is in need of further financing and they were mindful to increase student fees but we prevailed on them to do so, so the Government had to come in and assist them in meeting that gap in their financing.”

Prime Minister Said Musa.

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