Francis Fonseca Minister of Education The Honourable Francis Fonseca was elected to office in March 2003. He served as Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister until January 2004 when he was appointed Minister of Education, Youth and Sports. Minister Fonseca brings to his Ministry a background in law and economics as well as a wealth of experience from the many community projects he engages in. Such Projects include Director of AMCA, the Boards of Belize Council for the Visually Impaired, University of Belize, Small Farmers and Business Bank and of the Central Bank of Belize. He has been a legal advisor of the United Belize Artist Association, an Executive Member of the Bar Association of Belize and a volunteer at the Belize Legal Aid Center.

Education -The Hope of a Young and Growing Nation

Over the last decade, national initiatives in education have targeted four major objectives:

• To improve the quality of instruction in schools
• To improve students’ achievement levels
• To improve the quality, availability and efficient use of educational facilities
• To strengthen the planning and management of the education system

Much has been achieved; however, many challenges still remain even as Belize’s education sector continues its efforts to deliver high quality education for all.

It has become more and more evident that merely increasing resources is not the answer to realising development within the education sector. Education in Belize currently commands the largest portion of the national recurrent budget yet continues to fall short of being universally accessible and of the quality and relevance that can sustain social and economic development. Increasingly evident is the need for a fundamental paradigm shift which will spawn a new generation of critical and independent thinkers and learners capable of assuming responsibility for their own learning. Critical to any effort towards reform of the education sector is the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders; such participation will ensure community ownership in the process of policy formulation and decision making.

Belize’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports remains committed to investing in human resource development despite the challenges posed by limited resources. Such investment must begin with expansion of early childhood care and education and extend to include universal access to primary and secondary education over the next decade. Efforts will continue to increase the numbers of trained teachers and the quality of training offered to teachers at all levels of the education system. Needless to say education systems must encourage and promote the concept of lifelong learning if societies like Belize are to remain competitive in the face of global competition in the information age, After all investment in education is the single most effective poverty alleviation strategy.

UNESCO’s shared vision and commitment to education in our region will undoubtedly continue to contribute positively to our efforts to successfully meet the challenges we face.