Minister Christopher Coye Explains Importance of Literacy

Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Christopher Coye, also spoke about the importance of financial literacy. Minister Coye says that with more people joining the business sector, the need for literacy increases as a whole to ensure maximum success. He adds that this is why it is important to improve the quality of education for Belizeans at the earliest stage.

Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance: “Well I think even before being financially literacy there is literacy in its own right. I think our education system has suffered over the past decade or decades and we have many kids not in school, I think a recent report from Ministry of Education was that roughly only 55% of high school aged kids are in high school and that certainly impacts on the path, the future for those children that are not in school. So we have to look at improving education on a whole and I think the Ministry of Education has developed a sound plan in that regard both in terms of curriculum framework and otherwise. A part of that is financial literacy. Financial literacy isn’t necessarily just for people who are interested in business, financial literacy is for all of us so that we in whatever activities that we may ultimately end up in we understand matters of finance sufficient enough that we are not taken advantage of whether it’s a money lender or a bank or a credit union you want to know what you’re getting into and understand what you’re getting into so you can make an informed decision so that’s where financial literacy plays a role just for everyone but especially for small business.”