Belling the cat: Exploring alignment between the church and state in Belize’s education system

Abstract

This paper explores whether the relationship between church-state actors contributes to or constrains educational quality. It posed the following research question: Is there alignment between the church and the state in the envisioning and delivery of education in Belize? Technical documents, non-technical documents, and key stakeholder interviews were qualitatively analysed and triangulated. The study found that, while alignment exists in overarching goals and historical appreciation of the partnership, there are also misalignments in overlapping roles, conflicting philosophies, dissonance between actions and stated commitment to the partnership, and the manifestation of accountability in education. Given that the government’s approximately 23% investment in education is juxtaposed with documented low returns, this paper can contribute to understanding some underlying challenges that potentially undermine that investment.