Belize is the northernmost country in Central America, sharing a northern border with Mexico, southern and western borders with Guatemala, and is bound on the east by the Caribbean Sea.
Mayans were the first to develop Belize around 1500 B.C. Christopher Columbus reached the coast in 1502, but it was the English who established the first settlement in1638 and continued building settlements for the next 150 years.
In 1840 Belize became a "Colony of British Honduras" and in 1862, it became a crown colony. In January 1964, full self-government with a ministerial system was granted. In 1973, the name was changed from British Honduras to Belize, and on September 21, 1981, Belize became fully independent.
The Belizean population is made up of eight distinct cultures – Maya, Mestizo, Kriol, Garifuna, East Indian, Mennonite, Arab and Chinese. While English is the official language, only 4% of the population speaks it as their primary language. Spanish is used by 46%, and Kriol (Belizean Creole) by 33%. The indigenous languages of African-based Garifuna, Maya, Maya-Kekchi, and Maya Mopan, Mandarin Chinese and German make up the rest.
Belize is the least densely populated of all Central American countries, with approximately 35 people per square mile (14 people per square kilometer.)
The six districts of Belize are a bio-diverse treasure including rainforests, sugar cane fields, jungles, seacoast, river systems, wildlife reserves, the largest cave system in Central America, and Maya archaeological sites.
Belize is also one of the most peaceful countries in Central America. This peacefulness is likely due to its acceptance and integration of various races and cultures, the low population density, and the absence of coups, civil wars, armed guerrillas, dictators, and foreign occupiers, all of which have ravaged other Central American countries.
Underlying these Belizean positives are some grim facts: 43% of the population lives below the poverty line. Fourteen percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day. An estimated 40% of children ages 5-14 years old are in the workforce.
(Statistics from IndexMundi.com)
As in most Central American countries public education is not actually free. There are school fees, uniforms, books, writing materials, transportation, lunch and snacks to be paid by the parents.
In addition, the outcomes of public education are dismal. On a national test for eighth-graders only 44% of children from cities and towns were rated “satisfactory,” and only 37% of rural children (mostly from the indigenous populations) received that rating
Teachers do not score much better. When that same test across all subjects was administered to teachers, the average score of current teachers was “B” and the average score of teachers in training was “C.” Ten percent of the pool received “D” and “F.”
The poor performance of the teachers is a result of their own education – 40% of high school teachers themselves have only a high school education. Consequently the quality of the content they know and teach is low, resulting in the poor performance of their students.
The lack of higher educational teacher requirements and the students’ low performance combine to keep the poverty level high. This is even more prevalent in indigenous areas.
(Statistics from Inter-American Development Bank.org, report IDB-TN-538)
Mayans were the first to develop Belize around 1500 B.C. Christopher Columbus reached the coast in 1502, but it was the English who established the first settlement in1638 and continued building settlements for the next 150 years.
In 1840 Belize became a "Colony of British Honduras" and in 1862, it became a crown colony. In January 1964, full self-government with a ministerial system was granted. In 1973, the name was changed from British Honduras to Belize, and on September 21, 1981, Belize became fully independent.
The Belizean population is made up of eight distinct cultures – Maya, Mestizo, Kriol, Garifuna, East Indian, Mennonite, Arab and Chinese. While English is the official language, only 4% of the population speaks it as their primary language. Spanish is used by 46%, and Kriol (Belizean Creole) by 33%. The indigenous languages of African-based Garifuna, Maya, Maya-Kekchi, and Maya Mopan, Mandarin Chinese and German make up the rest.
Belize is the least densely populated of all Central American countries, with approximately 35 people per square mile (14 people per square kilometer.)
The six districts of Belize are a bio-diverse treasure including rainforests, sugar cane fields, jungles, seacoast, river systems, wildlife reserves, the largest cave system in Central America, and Maya archaeological sites.
Belize is also one of the most peaceful countries in Central America. This peacefulness is likely due to its acceptance and integration of various races and cultures, the low population density, and the absence of coups, civil wars, armed guerrillas, dictators, and foreign occupiers, all of which have ravaged other Central American countries.
Underlying these Belizean positives are some grim facts: 43% of the population lives below the poverty line. Fourteen percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day. An estimated 40% of children ages 5-14 years old are in the workforce.
(Statistics from IndexMundi.com)
As in most Central American countries public education is not actually free. There are school fees, uniforms, books, writing materials, transportation, lunch and snacks to be paid by the parents.
In addition, the outcomes of public education are dismal. On a national test for eighth-graders only 44% of children from cities and towns were rated “satisfactory,” and only 37% of rural children (mostly from the indigenous populations) received that rating
Teachers do not score much better. When that same test across all subjects was administered to teachers, the average score of current teachers was “B” and the average score of teachers in training was “C.” Ten percent of the pool received “D” and “F.”
The poor performance of the teachers is a result of their own education – 40% of high school teachers themselves have only a high school education. Consequently the quality of the content they know and teach is low, resulting in the poor performance of their students.
The lack of higher educational teacher requirements and the students’ low performance combine to keep the poverty level high. This is even more prevalent in indigenous areas.
(Statistics from Inter-American Development Bank.org, report IDB-TN-538)