by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 6, 2025

Over 600 teachers throughout the country who are a part of the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) will be heading to Belmopan on Friday, February 7, to carry out a protest during the House of Representatives meeting to express their frustration over unpaid increments and allowances.

There have been extended negotiations between the BNTU and the government to address the lingering issue of teachers not getting paid what they are owed, and initially the government had told the teachers they would be paid in October, but the payment was not received. They then waited until the end of November but again, the money was not given to them.

_{Nadia Martin Caliz, BNTU National President}

The BNTU thus held a vote amongst its members, and over 1,800 agreed to stage a protest to express their discontent. The government was given a final deadline of December 31 for the sums of money to be paid out, and for the teachers to call off their protest. According to reports at a BNTU press conference, some moneys were paid, but still not for all the teachers who were to be paid. Thus, the protest will nonetheless be taking place this Friday.

_{Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education}

“The BNTU have a mandate from their membership. They are advocates [for] their teachers, so they have every right to protest. We have been in rigorous discussions with the BNTU for months. We’re trying to address an issue that goes back many years. I think [most] teachers [throughout] the country know that our Ministry of Education is acting in good faith. We have sat down with them respectfully at the table to try to address all of their concerns. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do 100% of what we wanted to achieve in December, but almost 95% of the teachers got what they were due. But we have had some delays, so we hope everything will be fixed by the end of February,” said Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education.

“I fully respect their right to do what they will do on Friday. But again, we remain committed to resolving these issues in dialogue with the BNTU,” he said.

The BNTU protest will start at the UB Gym at 8:30 a.m. From that location, the teachers will march to the George Price Center, where the House of Representatives session will be held, and conclude at 2:00 p.m.