Courtney Menzies was on the ground in Belmopan and has this story.

The BNTU's green machine was in full effect through the streets of Belmopan this morning. Thousands of teachers from across the country boarded buses to be a part of today's protest rally.

The short march started at the Sir George Brown Field and the plan was the walk past the George Price Center where the Meeting of the House of Representatives would be held later in the morning. But when the crowd arrived in front of the center, though the meeting hadn't started yet, the teachers stopped and shouted chants of solidarity.

Some of them wanted to enter the lot, if only to walk directly past the center. And that's when a group from Stann Creek did just that. They marched past the barriers despite the police's instructions. Officers were standing outside the center to ensure the teachers did not get too close.

But the those teachers got as close as they could before circling and rejoining the rest of the crowd. From there, the machine continued to the UB gym, where the bleachers were awash in green.

The BNTU's president said the support was overwhelming.

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU
"Excellent turnout. If you notice I was not in the front because I had to reassure myself that this is actually what the teachers want so I walked all the way down, I can tell you that we have over 3,000+ teachers out here today. And I haven't seen this level of support for the BNTU in years so it is clear that their mandate is exactly what we're standing up for, value teachers, we matter. They matter. They're the backbone of education. And the way how they're being treated, it's not fair at all."

And while there are still 658 teachers awaiting their increments, the issue is much deeper than just that. And that's why today wasn't just a protest - it was the launch of a campaign.

Courtney Menzies:
"Is it a warning that it could get more drastic than this?"

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU
"I want to say this to you. Today is the launch of a campaign, that's what I want to say, we are launching the campaign."

"Value teachers, we matter, is about the knowledge that they bring to the classroom, the challenges that they are going through as individuals. The fact that you have schools, and I'm talking specifically to the management, you have these schools because these teachers have been financing these schools, they have been fundraising for you, they have been looking for monies to find these tables and chairs, to pay the electricity bill to do a lot of these things, that's why you have these schools."

But while Caliz called out the managements, she did concede that the Ministry of Education has been transparent with them.

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU
"We had a meeting with the Ministry of Education on Wednesday. Prior to that we have been holding meetings because we've been clamoring for systemic change. This is not about instant fix anymore, this is about the permanent solution to everything. And one of the things we learnt from them which we knew already, is that while they want to be able to give teachers what is rightfully theirs, there is no documentation to support some of those things which is telling you that some managements are faltering."

"Some of the managements don't have the number of personnel required to serve this huge group that you see here."

"We applaud them for one, bringing to our attention, which we knew but we didn't have the figures, that while we are putting forward 658 teachers, they have over 2,000 teachers who are affected by this archaic, crazy system, it's outdated, it's antiquated, they realized that and they have already began to put systems in place to correct that, because they shared all of that with us. one of that is removing documentation going to the management, the ministry, back to the management, back to finance, so they remove that layer."

And they won't be alone - today's march saw the presence of the CWU president as well as the PSU president. Dean Flowers explained that as a true unionist, he had no choice but to show support for the BNTU.

Dean Flowers, President, PSU
"The ills that plague some of the management of these schools also plague some of the managers, in this case the ministries within the public service so there are many public officers in a similar shoe that are unable to get their increments on a timely basis, whether maliciously or simply because there's poor management of files. And do what the teachers are going through is also symptomatic to what public sector workers go through so I felt it was important to us to be here because we share the same type of problems."

"We always question why we don't have engaged citizens, why we don't have informed citizens, why we have broken communities, perhaps because the education system is broken. The way how we treat with our teachers is broken and until we can create an environment not only educated teachers but contented teachers, teachers who wake up each and every day and want to go to work to do their job rather than to collect a pay."

Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator
"I am very worried for the state of workers in this country. I had a very frank conversation with a soldier and it worries me because soldiers have been caught up in some incidents recently, and I wanted to know what is happening, there's a bit of alcoholism going on because people are frustrated, they're worried about how they're going to pay their bills. And in a climate where we're withholding things that teachers are entitled to, I'm fully supporting the teachers coming out here ensuring that they get a system that works for them."

For now, the teachers are waiting to see what the ministry's next move will be.

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU
"We have a meeting with the ministry, it should be next week though, we haven't cemented the date as yet but it should be sometimes next week. We meet quite often because we ask them to show us the progress and up to this point they're keeping that."

"If I say that we have not been making strides then the union is being disingenuous. But there are some key areas that we have not discussed as yet and if when we get to those points, we don't find them acting in good faith, then we take it up a notch."

The teachers rally finished this afternoon.