As countries across the globe rethink how to prepare young people for rapidly evolving work and social landscapes, small developing nations like Belize are testing targeted solutions to fix longstanding gaps in their public education systems. A new collaborative pilot program launched this month in southern Belize centers on a simple, transformative idea: sustainable education reform starts with empowered, well-trained school leaders, not just changes to curriculum or classroom policy.
The initiative is led by BUILD, a Belizean training and development organization founded by Dangriga Area Representative Dr. Louis Zabaneh in 2014. Working in formal partnership with Belize’s Ministry of Education, BUILD is rolling out a 16-week master-level certification course focused on competency-based education (CBE), an approach that prioritizes hands-on skill mastery over rote memorization and traditional test-based assessment. The pilot is open to primary and secondary school leaders from the southern districts of Stann Creek and Toledo, with the first cohort comprising 50 participants split evenly between the two regions, based out of BUILD’s Dangriga operations.
Dr. Zabaneh outlined BUILD’s decade-long track record of delivering accessible, community-focused training across Belize in remarks at the program’s launch. Prior projects have ranged from entry-level job interview preparation and emotional intelligence workshops to specialized vocational training in partnership with the Taiwanese Embassy and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), including popular cell phone repair courses, and advanced training for educators on sustainable human development. This new pilot marks the organization’s first foray into high-level, systemic education transformation work.
Unlike one-off professional development workshops that fade quickly after completion, the certification program is built for long-term impact. Over 16 weeks, participants receive ongoing one-on-one coaching, structured mentoring, and hands-on support to design and implement CBE-aligned projects tailored to the unique needs of their own schools. Program facilitator Dr. Consuela Godfrey explained that the core goal is to build lasting leadership capacity, rather than just deliver theoretical information. Trained leaders will not only be able to implement CBE frameworks at their institutions and track progress, but also guide and give constructive feedback to their own teaching staff to drive continuous improvement, Godfrey said.
The program’s phased approach places school leadership first, with plans to expand to broader teacher training once leadership capacity is established, keeping student outcomes at the center of all reform efforts. Dangriga Mayor Robert Mariano expressed strong public support for the initiative, noting that community-wide benefits will follow from investing in local school leadership. He called the launch of the pilot in Dangriga a point of pride for the southern Belize community, emphasizing that the program will directly benefit Belizean residents working to achieve their personal and professional goals.
To make the program accessible, BUILD has partnered with multiple stakeholders to offset program costs for participants, making the certification far more affordable than it would be otherwise. Dr. Zabaneh noted that this collaborative partnership model will serve as a blueprint for future expansion, bringing together public and private stakeholders aligned on the shared goal of improving educational outcomes for all Belizean students. After the first cohort completes their training and implements their school projects this semester, program organizers will track student and school outcomes over the following semester to measure impact, refine the program model, and lay the groundwork for long-term, systemic improvement across southern Belize’s education system.