Ministry of Education Responds to U.B. Faculty & Staff Union

The Ministry of Education has responded to the University of Belize’s Faculty and Staff Union.  As we reported on Thursday, the U.B.F.S.U. raised serious concerns regarding the subvention that the university receives from the Government of Belize.  According to the union, the Briceño administration promised to increase the annual subvention but has failed to keep its word. Earlier today, the ministry issued a statement in which it says, “the government currently provides an annual subvention of seven point six million dollars to U.B.  In addition to this, the MoECST has provided scholarship and financial assistance to U.B. students at an unprecedented level of seven point five million dollars annually from 2020 to 2023, compared to the 2019 total of one point five million dollars.  Notable, as well, is the level of support being provided to individual members of the faculty and staff to further their education and upgrade their capacity to serve the U.B.”  U.B.F.S.U. President, Doctor Pio Saqui shares other concerns that the union has raised.

 

Dr. Pio Saqui, President, U.B.F.S.U.

“There is one other promise that was made in that same communication in 2021, I believe, where the government or then P.U.P. made it a commitment to include the University of Belize Faculty and Staff Union as part of the board of the University of Belize because then it did recognize the disrespect that the university administration showed the union during that time  of COVID when we were asking the question of financial exigency, et cetera.  And that needs to be something that’s also is made good on because currently we do have a faculty representative on the board in the person of Mr. Tim Dami; however, there is limited representation for our staff and other members of our employees at the University of Belize.  So having a union representative on the board would be something that’s absolutely important and that is a process that I think should happen and it shouldn’t take very much.  The University of Belize’s U.B. Act is being amended and this should be something that is included so that we are given the respect and treated as equal partners of the university in every sense of the situation, you know, because the University of Belize is made up of its faculty and its staff and the union representatives do need to go, the faculty and staff union needs to go and it needs to be included as a partner on the board and be represented very well.  The staff are very important for the U.B. equally.”