The Government of Belize (GOBZ) has received a USD6 million loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), for its Student Loan Scheme which will assist close to 800 learners, including financially disadvantaged persons, pursuing post-secondary and tertiary level programmes.

Through the Belize Student Loan Project, funds will be made available to the country’s Development Finance Corporation to assist students seeking training in areas identified under GOBZ’s human resource development strategy as critical for improving the country’s economic competitiveness. The loan to GOBZ was approved at a recent meeting of CDB’s Board of Directors.

“Investment in human resource development is vital to the future of a country and consequently it is critical that Belizean students have access to education and training to meet the future needs of the labour force,” said CDB’s Vice-President of Operations, Mr Isaac Solomon.  

He added, “To improve economic competitiveness and social cohesion access to learning, training and capacity building opportunities must be available as wide as possible, especially for persons with financial challenges.”

With approximately 70% of the population of Belize under 35, the demand for tertiary education is steadily increasing. Expanded access to secondary education and evolving human resources requirements for the country’s services-driven economy are also necessitating more tertiary level training schemes. Anticipated benefits of the CDB Project include escalations in enrolment and graduation rates for tertiary level programmes, an increased number of highly skill professionals and practitioners entering the Belizean workforce, and improvements in the employability and productivity of the local human resource pool.