Among the proposed amendments is the creation of a Teaching Service Commission. Stakeholders, including the Catholic Church, are however not in favour of such a commission.

Bishop Dorick Wright of the Diocese of Belize City & Belmopan issued a pastoral letter in August intimating foreign influences were behind this push for changes to the Act, which would “severely reduce or altogether remove the influence of the Church in education”.
“Here in Belize we must be careful not to follow the foreign trend. Increasingly the very fabric of our nation is being torn apart by expressions and manifestations of immorality, especially violence and sexual promiscuity, which destroys families. Is the Church to allow itself to be removed from battling this trend?”

Bishop Wright

The bishop stated the partnership between the Church and the State, “built up for over a century”, is now under threat. “There is no need to rush headlong to pass a new Education Act,” wrote Bishop Wright. “Instead we need to enter into more meaningful dialogue that will improve the harmonious working of the partnership between Church and State to more genuinely help each other to carry out our roles for the greater benefit of Belizeans and for the greater glory of God.

“We call upon the Government to consider more closely its goals for the future and we invite the Ministry of Education and his government to now enter into meaningful dialogue that will enhance our partnership, not scuttle it.”

Also resisting the proposed amendments was a group calling itself the Roman Catholic School System. The body said the rights of managing authorities and proprietors to employment of teachers “with full authority to appoint, transfer, release, suspend or dismiss members of staff of its respective schools or institutions, must remain firmly intact as is provided for in section XVI of the Education Act 1991, Revised 2000.”

The body stated the proposed Teaching Service Commission “which forms a part of the proposed amendments to the Education Act and Rules would remove the rights of managing authorities to employ teachers. The Roman Catholic School System views this as a breach of our rights as proprietors and managing authorities of our Catholic institutions.”

Ruben Wong, editor of Catholic monthly The Christian Herald, providing an update of the situation, said the Belize National Teachers Union is currently meeting with its membership base across the central-American country, before making a final decision on which side of the fence it will fall.