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The Last time we spoke to the BNTU in December, they indicated their readiness to take industrial action come January 2025, if GOB failed to disburse increments and salaries owed to teachers as promised.
GOB did deliver on that from their end - and maybe it is ushering a new era of cooperation between the two bodies - which are usually adversarial.
They held a joint meeting today and emerged with a signed joint statement to commit and collaborate to effectively improve the education system.
Jomarie Lanza was there when the meeting finished and spoke with the BNTU president and Minister of Education.
The Ministry of Education, met with the BNTU and other stakeholders this morning to address and resolve A number of concerns and issues within the educational system. After more than 5 hours, the meeting came to an end and both parties, the BNTU and MOE emerged, having signed an agreement to solve many of these issues. BNTU President Nadia Caliz says that they made some significant progress in today's discussions.
Nadia Caliz, BNTU President
"I am satisfied with the outcome because this is not the first meeting we are going to be holding we are committed to meeting two times per year to look at the challenges of education and to make recommendation to those challenges. In the past you will notice that each entity operated on their own and now this brings all of us together because in education we all share a common interest so there is absolutely no need for them to be talking to one group to appease them and then another group to appease them but if we come together we can safe guard education and I'm quite certain you've heard me say that education is at risk in Belize we do not have the professionals for the classrooms that is required, we have a number of students who do not want to go to schools, there is so much. And even though the BNTU is known for advocacy we have a responsibility to safeguard that sector."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Im very very proud of the discussion we had here today, we actually produced a joint statement which will be released to The media, We just signed that joint statement signed between ministry, BNTU managing authorities, GAMAS, BAPS, everybody signed onto it which really outlines in detail The outcomes of our meeting today, So you know we tackled some of the big issues and we made the point that this is, we had a long meeting today a stakeholders meeting but really this meeting Is the outcome of many many previous meetings and discussions that we've had leading up to today and so we came here today and we talked about the challenges and opportunities in the education system, we agreed that we had a shared vision and commitment for improving the quality of education in our country and so we wanted to, we looked at the teaching profession the challenges in The teaching profession, We looked specifically at the issues of increments and allowances and all of those issues that have been plaguing the system for a long time so how do we reform that system and fix it once and for all. You know and then we talked of course about Digitisation, meeting the needs of tomorrow and how we put in place the structures and systems we need to make the education system more effective and efficient into the future."
Aside from payment and increment issues being resolved, Caliz says that the ministry also offered them several other benefits.
Nadia Caliz, BNTU President
"Today the ministry offered the BNTU on top of what we have already, 11 scholarships for us to give to our members, those who need to qualify themselves that's one, and another part is the fact that in the TVET sector like we have a hard time, secondary schools have a hard time finding teachers to cover those areas, we have agreed for them to issue temporary permits so lets say you know someone who owns a business but lets say it is in construction but he or she is not interested in taking up teaching full time but he is willing to come in and teach only that particular subject and then exit they now allow for that. So you should no longer see secondary schools struggling to find persons to come in and teach these subjects that's 1 and another one we love is the fact that they have difficulties finding teachers in remote areas, for example San Pedro is one of those right now, they are willing to provide housing and additional support for those teachers outside of the hardship and commuting allowance, that's a plus again to get teachers into the area."
Also present at today's meeting were representatives of the Managing authority for Primary and secondary schools, and from Income Tax and the Treasury departments who walked them through how the new payment system for teachers will function. She explained how what changes teachers should expect to see in terms of receiving their monthly salaries.
Nadia Caliz, BNTU President
"In The process right now it would normally come from the managing authority to the ministry then it goes back to the managing authority, and then there is a long turn around coming back and going to treasury, what they have done now is that everything goes from the managing authority to government and to ministry of education who then sends that to the finance section and then just copy the managing authority after that so that entire layer for another month or two has been removed we love that very much. What we are paying keen attention to though is to ensure that once a teacher enters the system that he or she can collect his or her salary in a timely manner that's key."
And though today's discussions were fruitful Caliz says that the Union council has yet to discuss as to whether they will stand down for now, or remain on standby in moving forward with industrial action
Nadia Caliz, BNTU President
"I cannot say that, that is a decision for the BNTu council now, when members vote on anything the council decides from there so I cannot say that. The council meets Saturday and then they will decide the way forward so a lot may think that everything is up to this president when it comes to industrial action, No no no, I am the face I am the lead but there is a set democratic way in which the BNTU operates."
Their joint statement concludes, quote, "MoECST, BNTU, and school Managing Authorities will continue to engage in meaningful dialogue and joint initiatives aimed at addressing challenges, promoting innovation, and enhancing the quality of education for all."
The joint statement, quote, "(underscores) a commitment to fostering sustained, effective, and efficient collaboration and communication to benefit students, teachers, parents, and administrators, with the goal of creating an education system that meets the needs of the nation and its people."
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