In a sharply worded announcement made public on August 19, 2026, the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) has issued a critical warning that the country’s proposed Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Bill risks continuing decades of unfair treatment for vocational educators, calling for immediate legislative amendments to address deep-seated inequities.
BNTU President Nadia Caliz highlighted that the draft legislation fails to resolve long-standing gaps in support, pay progression, and professional development for TVET (locally referred to as VoTech) teachers, leaving thousands of educators in a precarious transitional limbo. Caliz explained that the current framework creates an inconsistent two-tier system: educators who move from classroom roles to positions under the new TVET authority receive higher salaries, while their peers who remain teaching under the existing Education Act are stuck on outdated pay scales with limited pathways for advancement.
A key point of contention is the lack of accessible higher education pathways for in-service vocational teachers. Caliz pointed out that teachers holding associate degrees in specialized TVET fields currently have no clear route to earn bachelor’s degrees within Belize, a systemic gap that has suppressed salary growth and professional recognition for years. She emphasized that the BNTU will no longer accept the status quo that has left many senior VoTech teachers stagnating at pay scale 8, point 4 for more than two decades, a grievance the union has negotiated with the Ministry of Education (MOE) for years without meaningful resolution.
Caliz framed TVET teachers as the unsung backbone of Belize’s skills development ecosystem, responsible for training the workforce that drives key sectors of the national economy, yet they have been systematically undervalued for generations. While the union has granted the Ministry of Education a 90-day window to address a broader set of educator welfare concerns, Caliz stressed that revisions to the flawed TVET Bill cannot wait for this extended timeline, requiring immediate action to correct the inequities baked into the draft legislation.
This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television newscast focused on Belizean education policy.