Belize: Education Statistical Digest 1998-99 Planning Unit Ministry of Education and Sports Map of Belize TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES iii LIST OF CHARTS vii LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 1.0 Introduction 2 1.1 Belize In Figures 1999 3 2.0 Description of the Education System 4 2.1 Structure of the Education System of Belize 1998-99 4 2.1.1 Administration and Management 5 3.0 Major Findings (1998-99) 6 4.0 Education Supply 7 4.1 Number of Schools 7 4.2 Number of Pre-Schools 8 4.3 Number of Primary Schools 9 4.4 Number of Secondary Schools 10 5.0 Participation in Education 11 5.1 Enrolment 11 5.2 Pre-Schools Enrolment 12 5.3 Primary Schools Enrolment 14 5.4 Secondary Schools Enrolment 16 5.5 Repetition Dropout Rates 18 5.5.1 Primary Schools 18 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 i 5.5.2 Secondary Schools 21 5.6 Participation Rate Primary 24 5.7 Participation Rate Secondary 26 6.0 Enrolment Trends 27 6.1 Transition Rate 29 7.0 Resources 30 7.1 Total Teaching Force 30 7.2 Pre-School Teachers 31 7.3 Primary School Teachers 32 7.4 Secondary School Teachers 36 7.5 Pupil Teacher Ratio 38 7.6 Prognosticated Enrolment 39 8.0 Finance 40 9.0 Examination Results 42 10.0 Educational Indicators 44 The Way Forward 50 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 ii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Population and Vital Statistics 3 Table 2A: Number of Schools by District, Level and Management - 1998-99 7 Table 2B: Number of Schools by District, Level and Management - 1997-98 7 Table 3A: Number of Pre-Schools by District, Management and U/R Location - 1998-99 8 Table 3B: Number of Pre-Schools by District, Management and U/R Location - 1997-98 8 Table 4A: Number of Primary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location - 1998-99 9 Table 4B: Number of Primary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location - 1997-98 9 Table 5A: Number of Secondary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location - 1998-99 10 Table 5B: Number of Secondary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location - 1997-98 10 Table 6A: Enrolment by District, Level and Gender - 1998-99 11 Table 6B: Enrolment by District, Level and Gender - 1997-98 11 Table 7A: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and Gender - 1998-99 12 Table 7B: Pre Schools Enrolment by District, Management and Gender - 1997-98 12 Table 8A: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and U/R Location - 1998-99 13 Table 8B: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and U/R Location - 1997-98 13 Table 9A: Primary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender - 1998-99 14 Table 9B: Primary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender - 1997-98 14 Table 10A: Enrolment in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1998-99 15 Table 10B: Enrolment in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1997-98 15 Table 11A: Secondary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender - 1998-99 16 Table 11B: Secondary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender - 1997-98 16 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 iii Table 12A: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1998-99 17 Table 12B: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1997-98 17 Table 13A: Primary Schools Repetition Rate by District and Grade - 1997-98 18 Table 13B: Primary Schools Repetition Rate by District and Grade - 1996-97 18 Table 14A: Primary Schools Dropout by District and Grade - 1997-98 19 Table 14B: Primary Schools Dropout by District and Grade - 1996-97 19 Table 15A: Children of Age 12 & 13+ Years Enrolled in Primary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age - 1998-99 20 Table 15B: Children of Age 12 & 13+ Years Enrolled in Primary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age - 1997-98 20 Table 16A: Secondary Schools Repetition and Dropout Rate by District and Gender - 1997-98 21 Table 16B: Secondary Schools Repetition and Dropout Rate by District and Gender - 1996-97 21 Table 17A: Secondary Schools Repetition and Dropout Rate by Grade and Gender - 1997-98 22 Table 17B: Secondary Schools Repetition and Dropout Rate by Grade and Gender - 1996-97 22 Table 18A: Children of Age 16 & 17+ Years Enrolled in Secondary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age - 1998-99 23 Table 18B: Children of Age 16 & 17+ Years Enrolled in Secondary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age - 1997-98 23 Table 19A: Percentage of Primary School Age Population Enrolled in G & GA Primary Schools by District and Gender - 1998-99 24 Table 19B: Percentage of Primary School Age Population Enrolled in G & GA Primary Schools by District and Gender - 1997-98 25 Table 20A: Percentage of Population Age 11-20 Enrolled in Secondary Schools by District - 1998-99 26 Table 20B: Percentage of Population Age 11-20 Enrolled in Secondary Schools by District - 1997-98 26 Table 21: Pre-School Enrolment Trends - 1980 to 1998-99 27 Table 22: G & GA Primary School Enrolment Trends - 1981-82 to 1998-99 27 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 iv Table 23: Secondary School Enrolment Trends - 1982-83 to 1998-99 28 Table 24: Transition Rate from Primary to Secondary School 29 Table 25A: Number of Teachers by District, Level and Gender - 1998-99 30 Table 25B: Number of Teachers by District, Level and Gender - 1997-98 30 Table 26A: Number of Pre-School Teachers by District and Management - 1998-99 31 Table 26B: Number of Pre-School Teachers by District and Management - 1997-98 31 Table 27A: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and District - 1998-99 32 Table 27B: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and District - 1997-98 32 Table 28A: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and U/R Location - 1998-99 33 Table 28B: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and U/R Location - 1997-98 33 Table 29A: Number of Primary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification - 1998-99 34 Table 29B: Number of Primary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification - 1997-98 35 Table 30A: Number of Secondary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification - 1998-99 36 Table 30B: Number of Secondary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification - 1997-98 37 Table 31A: Pupil:Teacher Ratio in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1998-99 38 Table 31B: Pupil:Teacher Ratio in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location - 1997-98 38 Table 32: Prognosticated Primary School Enrolment until year 2005 39 Table 33: Prognosticated Secondary School Enrolment until year 2005 39 Table 34A: Primary School Performance in the BNSE by District - 1999 42 Table 34B: Primary School Performance in the BNSE by District - 1998 43 Table 35: Primary School Completion Rate - 1998-99 44 Table 36: Primary School Gross Enrolment - 1998-99 44 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 v Table 37: Primary School Net Enrolment - 1998-99 45 Table 38: Net Pre-School Enrolment - 1998-99 45 Table 39: Percentage of Children Aged 12 in the Educational System - 1998-99 45 Table 40: Percentage of Children Aged 14 in the Educational System - 1998-99 46 Table 41: Secondary School Net Enrolment - 1998-99 46 Table 42: Secondary School Gross Enrolment - 1998-99 47 Table 43: Average Primary School Repetition Rate - 1997-98 47 Table 44: Average Primary School Dropout Rate - 1997-98 47 Table 45: Average Secondary School Repetition Rate - 1997-98 48 Table 46: Average Secondary School Dropout Rate - 1997-98 48 Table 47: Percentage of Trained Teachers in Primary Schools - 1998-99 49 Table 48: Primary School Pupil/Teacher Ratio - 1998-99 49 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 vi LIST OF CHARTS Page Chart 1: Structure of the Education System of Belize - 1998-99 4 Chart 2: Education Expenditure as a Proportion of Total GoB Expenditure - 1998-99 40 Chart 3: Distribution of Education Recurrent Expenditure by Level FY - 1998-99 40 Chart 4: Distribution of Education Capital II Budget by Level FY - 1998-99 41 Chart 5: Unit Cost of Education Recurrent Budget by Level FY - 1998-99 41 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 vii LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS BNSE Belize National Selection Examination Beg. Beginners Com Community EMIS Education Management Information System F Female FT Fully Trained FY Fiscal Year G Government GA Government-Aided GoB Government of Belize Gov’t-Aided Comm. Government-Aided Community Gov’t-Aided Denom. Government-Aided Denominational GT Graduate Trained Gr Graduate Lev. 1 Level 1 Lev. 2 Level 2 M Male MoES Ministry of Education and Sports N/A Not Available NFT Not Fully Trained No. Number O Other P Private Part Rate Participation Rate Pre-Sch Pre-School P/SA Private/Specially Assisted PTR Pupil Teacher Ratio R Rural SDA Seventh Day Adventist Seventh Day Adven. Seventh Day Adventist Sp Ed Special Education T Trained U Urban U/R Urban/Rural Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Education Statistical Digest 1998-99 This issue of the Education Statistical Digest is the fifth to be produced by the Ministry of Education and Sports’ Planning Unit. This official document presents a comprehensive statistical overview of the Education System of Belize together with concise analysis to assist in the proper interpretation of the figures. The Digest includes detailed information on students attending pre-primary, primary and secondary institutions in Belize for academic years 1997-98 and 1998-99. In addition, it gives information on the composition of the teaching force for the same levels of education. Included also is brief information on BNSE results and educational financial analysis for 1998-99 fiscal year. An added feature in this issue is the inclusion of the fourteen educational indicators prepared for the Social Indicator Committee, which can serve to monitor and evaluate the performance of the education system. Many people have contributed time and expertise in the development of the Digest. To these people the MoES expresses its helpful gratitude; particularly to the Principals, Teachers, Managers and District Education Officers who were key in submitting the data from their schools or district. The publication of this Digest was made possible with the assistance of the Government Printer. Once again thank you all. _________________________ Dr. Cecil Reneau Chief Education Officer Ministry of Education and Sports Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 1 EDUCATION STATISTICAL DIGEST 1998-99 1.0 INTRODUCTION It is generally accepted that informed decisions can be made only if the information is: available, timely, reliable, accurate and the proper training is instituted for the end users. Ever mindful of the need for reliable data for proper planning the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) has over the years sought to improve its Education Management Information System (EMIS) processes and infrastructure. The purpose of the Digest is threefold: present an overview of education in Belize; inform MoES personnel and researchers about the type of educational data available at the Planning Unit and highlight key educational issues through concise analysis. It is hoped that the information in the Digest would play a major role in initiating a data based decision making culture. This is the fifth issue of the Belize Education Statistical Digest. The Digest sets the stage by presenting key population and vital statistics figures. It goes on to briefly describe the education structure of Belize. Next it looks at detailed information on schools, enrolment, repetition, dropout and participation. Enrolment trends have over the years been a major feature of the Digest. The Statistical Digest also presents detailed information on teachers. The next section gives brief information on recurrent and capital expenditure on education plus results on the Belize National Selection Examination. The last part of the Digest concentrates on the fourteen key educational indicators prepared for the Social Indicators Committee. It is important to note that we have only been successful in collecting data for pre-schools, government and government-aided primary and secondary schools. Suggestions on how this Digest can be improved would be welcome and can be forwarded to: Ministry of Education and Sports Planning Projects and Performance Measurement Services Upper Floor-Belize District Education Centre Mahogany Street Extension Belize City Telephone: (501) 2-32062 Fax: (501) 2-31762 E-mail: pfmp_moes@btl.net. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 2 1.1 BELIZE IN FIGURES 1998 Table 1: Population and Vital Statistics 1996 1997 1998 Total Population (thousands) 222 230 238.5 District: Belize 66.4 68.0 70.4 Cayo 47.4 47.9 49.4 Orange Walk 36.8 38.1 39.6 Corozal 29.4 31.2 32.5 Toledo 20.1 21.7 22.7 Stann Creek 21.8 23.2 24.0 Sex: Male 111.0 114.5 118.5 Female 111.0 115.5 120.0 Percentage of Population: Age 14 years and under 41.9 42.3 41.2 Between 15 and 64 years 52.8 52.7 54.1 65 and over 5.3 4.9 4.7 Population Density (per sq. mile) 25.0 25.9 26.9 Birth Rate (per 1,000 population) 30.1 31.9 25.1p Death Rate (per 1,000 population) 4.3 5.1 5.7p Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) 26.0 24.0 21.5p Marriages (numbers) 1,274 1,543 1,374p Households (thousands) 48.8 49.6 52.5 Persons per households (average) 4.5 4.6 4.5 Source: Abstract of Statistics, Central Statistical Office - 1997-1999 * p – provisional figures, all others are revised figures Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 3 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 2.1 STRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF BELIZE - 1998-99 Chart 1 Tertiary Schools School of Nursing BTC Sixth Form UCB/Foreign Pre school Primary School Secondary School Schools Universities ◊ • CET BTTC ♥ ∋ Intra Mural Distance Education BCA 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Age NOTES: BCA: Belize College of Agriculture BTTC: Belize Teachers Training College GCE: General Certificate of Education BTC: Belize Technical College UCB: University College of Belize CET: Center for Employment Training Belize National Selection Examination – BNSE ⊄ National Diagnostic Tests – Secondary school level – (BJAT) started in 1990 ⎪ Secondary school leaving examination and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate(CSEC) λ American College Tests (ACT) and Sixth Form Placement Examinations υ Sixth Forms – Associate Degree Examinations ν General Certificate of Education (GCE) ‘A ‘ Level examinations ♥ Teacher’s Training College Entrance Examination ∋ Teacher’s College and Jamaica Joint Board of Teacher Education Examination University Entrance Examination Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 4 2.1.1 ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT The Ministry of Education is responsible for managing the national education system, although with regard to primary and secondary education it shares responsibilities with various denominations in a unique partnership. The Ministry has a small staff of professional officers in Belmopan, Belize City and the districts. Policy decisions are made by the Minister with the support of the National Council for Education whose membership is representative of groups concerned with education. The role of the churches in education and their relationship with government was first formalised in the Education Ordinance of 1962. Under the partnership the Government establishes education objectives, provides funds to pay teachers’ salaries, contributes half the costs of facilities and their maintenance, develops curricula and administrative standards, trains teachers and administers examinations. The church organisations are responsible for management and maintenance of their schools and personnel matters. The church-state partnership in the provision of education has generally been fruitful. The arrangement has saved resources in the public sector by leveraging government spending in education and has promoted pluralism and diversity in a sociologically complex society. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 5 3.0 MAJOR FINDINGS (1998-99) 3.1 There were 284 primary schools in 1998-99. Of this number 249 were either government or government aided denominational schools. There were, in addition, 35 private schools of which 8 were classified as specially assisted schools, receiving some form of government subsidy. 3.2 There were 54,616 pupils enrolled in government and government aided primary schools. An estimated 51.5 percent of the total enrolment were boys; 50.0 percent went to urban schools and 56.7 percent went to schools run by the Roman Catholic management. 3.3 The primary school enrolment was 2.8 percent up from the previous year’s figure and 23.6 percent higher than a decade ago. 3.4 Of the 2,064 teachers in primary schools, 285 were in Government Primary Schools and 1,156 in Roman Catholic Schools. 60.6 percent of the teaching force were certified as trained representing 70.9 percent of all urban teachers and 50.8 percent of all rural teachers. 3.5 The overall pupil:teacher ratio was 26.5:1. 3.6 About 81.6 percent of all primary school leavers continued their education at secondary level. 3.7 There were 33 secondary schools which enrolled 5,532 male and 6,188 female students in 1998-99 an increased enrolment of 4.1 percent over the 1997-98 figures. 3.8 Of the 754 teachers employed at the secondary schools 55.7 percent were university graduates and 44.4 percent had professional teacher training. 3.9 The Ministry of Education’s recurrent expenditure on primary schools averaged out at BZ$726 per pupil. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 6 4.0 EDUCATION SUPPLY 4.1 NUMBER OF SCHOOLS Table 2A: Number of Schools by District, Level and Management – 1998-99 Level and Management Pre- Post- School Primary Secondary Secondary All District Com P G GA P/SA G GA P G GA P Com G GA P/SA Total Belize 13 25 5 54 11 3 11 2 3 3 0 13 11 68 38 130 Cayo 7 9 12 39 6 2 3 1 1 1 0 7 15 43 16 81 Corozal 10 9 6 28 8 1 2 0 0 1 0 10 7 31 17 65 Orange Walk 1 7 11 22 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 13 24 10 48 Stann Creek 10 4 0 27 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 10 2 29 7 48 Toledo 0 3 8 37 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 39 8 55 All 41 57 42 207 35 10 19 4 4 8 0 41 56 234 96 427 Table 2B: Number of Schools by District, Level and Management – 1997-98 Level and Management Pre- Post- School Primary Secondary Secondary All District Com P G GA P/SA G GA P/SA G GA P Com G GA P/SA Total Belize 12 24 5 54 11 3 11 2 3 3 0 12 11 68 37 128 Cayo 7 8 12 37 6 2 2 1 1 1 0 7 15 40 15 77 Corozal 9 8 6 28 8 1 2 0 0 1 0 9 7 31 16 63 Orange Walk 1 8 11 22 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 13 24 11 49 Stann Creek 5 3 0 27 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 5 1 29 6 41 Toledo 0 3 8 37 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 8 39 8 55 All 34 54 42 205 35 9 18 4 4 8 0 34 55 231 93 413 The total number of registered schools in Belize for the academic year 1998-99 was 427 of which 56 (13.1%) were completely funded by the Government of Belize and run by the Ministry of Education and Sports. In 1998-99 there were 98 pre-schools of which 57 were private institutions. There were 249 primary, 29 secondary and 12 post-secondary institutions partially or entirely funded by government. The increment in the total number of schools from 413 in the 1997-98 school year to 427 in the 1998-99 school year was due to the establishment of 6 new pre-schools in the Stann Creek District, 2 in both Corozal and the Belize District, 1 in the Cayo District along with the addition of 2 new Government- Aided primary in the Cayo District. It is important to note the closure of 1 private pre-school in the Orange Walk District. At the secondary school level a school under the Ministry of Natural Resources was included under government school for the 1998-99 school year. Also 2 schools changed status from specially-assisted to government-aided. In addition, a private secondary school also became government-aided. Post-secondary educational institutions have remained the same for the past two years. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 7 4.2 NUMBER OF PRE-SCHOOLS Table 3A: Number of Pre-Schools by District, Management and U/R Location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Community 4 9 4 3 4 6 0 1 2 8 0 0 14 27 Private 22 3 5 4 3 6 5 2 2 2 2 1 39 18 All 26 12 9 7 7 12 5 3 4 10 2 1 53 45 Table 3B: Number of Pre-Schools by District, Management and U/R Location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Community 4 8 4 3 2 7 0 1 2 3 0 0 12 22 Private 21 3 5 3 6 2 6 2 1 2 2 1 41 13 All 25 11 9 6 8 9 6 3 3 5 2 1 53 35 There were 15 new pre-schools established during the period 1997-98 to 1998-99, but due to the closure of 5 pre-schools then the actual increment was of 10 pre-schools only. Private pre-schools still continue to outnumber the community pre-schools. Generally, a positive growth in the number of rural pre-schools is evident especially as it relates to the opening of 5 new pre-schools in the Stann Creek District along with 1 in the Belize Rural, 1 in Cayo Rural and 3 in Corozal Rural. Nevertheless, statistics for the past four school years shows that the majority of the pre-schools continue to be concentrated in the urban areas of Belize. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 8 4.3 NUMBER OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS Table 4A: Number of Primary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 0 5 3 9 0 6 2 9 0 0 0 8 5 37 Roman Catholic 12 7 8 21 3 17 4 13 4 10 2 30 33 98 Anglican 8 4 1 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 12 10 Methodist 7 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 1 2 10 11 Seventh Day Adven. 2 2 1 2 1 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 7 9 Nazarene 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 Assemblies of God 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 Community 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 Other 11 6 2 4 1 4 1 4 0 2 0 4 15 24 All 42 28 17 40 8 34 9 27 7 22 4 46 87 197 Table 4B: Number of Primary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 0 5 3 9 0 6 2 9 0 0 0 8 5 37 Roman Catholic 12 7 7 20 3 17 4 13 4 10 2 30 32 97 Anglican 8 4 1 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 12 10 Methodist 7 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 1 2 10 11 Seventh Day Adven. 2 2 1 2 1 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 7 9 Nazarene 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 Assemblies of God 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 Community 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 Other 11 6 2 4 1 4 1 4 0 2 0 4 15 24 All 42 28 16 39 8 34 9 27 7 22 4 46 87 195 For the 1998-99 school year, 24.6% (70) of all primary schools were found in the Belize District. For the same period Stann Creek District recorded the lowest number of primary schools with only 29 schools (10.2%). The Roman Catholic management is responsible for 46.1% (131) of all primary schools. 69.4% (197) primary schools are in the rural areas. The majority of the rural schools were concentrated in the Toledo District with 46 schools or 92.0% of their total schools. Belize District is the most urbanised with 60.0% (42) of its schools while Toledo has only 8.0% (4) schools in the urban areas. Two new schools began functioning for the 1998-99 school year in the Cayo District namely Our Lady of Guadalupe (urban) and Our Lady of Lourdes (rural) under the Roman Catholic management. Private primary schools remained constant for both school years in question. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 9 4.4 NUMBER OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS Table 5A: Number of Secondary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 2 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 5 5 Gov’t-Aided Comm. 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 Gov’t-Aided Denom. 8 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 2 Specially Assisted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Private 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 All 12 4 6 0 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 0 24 9 Table 5B: Number of Secondary Schools by District, Management & U/R Location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 2 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 5 4 Gov’t-Aided Comm. 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 Gov’t-Aided Denom. 7 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 Specially Assisted 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Private 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 All 12 4 5 0 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 0 23 8 During the 1998-99 school year, secondary school education was offered by 33 institutions. Mount Carmel and Eden SDA in the Cayo District changed from private and specially-assisted status respectively to government-aided institutions during the 1998-99 school year. Of the 33 high schools, 10 were completely managed and funded by the Government of Belize, 5 were government aided managed by a Board of Management or Governors, 14 were denominational schools administered by religious groups and 4 were considered private high schools. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 10 5.0 PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION 5.1 ENROLMENT Table 6A: Enrolment by District, Level and Gender – 1998-99 Level and Gender Pre-School Primary Secondary All District M F M F M F M F Belize 947 961 7,596 7,219 1,951 2,586 10,494 10,766 Cayo 297 255 6,566 5,895 1,192 1,338 8,055 7,488 Corozal 173 167 3,514 3,532 814 753 4,501 4,452 Orange Walk 138 140 4,326 4,159 679 622 5,143 4,921 Stann Creek 225 254 3,173 3,000 523 557 3,921 3,811 Toledo 38 39 2,929 2,707 373 332 3,340 3,078 All 1,818 1,816 28,104 26,512 5,532 6,188 35,454 34,516 Table 6B: Enrolment by District, Level and Gender – 1997-98 Level and Gender Pre-School Primary Secondary All District M F M F M F M F Belize 906 888 7,504 7,112 1,927 2,520 10,337 10,520 Cayo 273 226 6,304 5,689 1,130 1,267 7,707 7,182 Corozal 195 172 3,386 3,333 754 740 4,335 4,245 Orange Walk 125 134 4,237 3,989 676 672 5,038 4,795 Stann Creek 167 156 3,107 2,927 425 467 3,699 3,550 Toledo 36 35 2,827 2,703 376 306 3,239 3,044 All 1,702 1,611 27,365 25,753 5,288 5,972 34,355 33,336 Overall both the 1997-98 and the 1998-99 school years showed more male students enrolled in the education system, representing 51% of the total student population in both school years. Nonetheless, at the secondary level the male population continues to be lower than that of the females. The 1997-98 period indicated 684 more females than males whereas in the 1998-99 school year it was 656. In general, the period 1997-98 to 1998-99 registered positive increment throughout the pre-school, primary and secondary levels. The total increase is reflected with an additional 2,279 students enrolled in the levels mentioned. This represented a 3.4% increase over the previous year. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 11 5.2 PRE SCHOOLS ENROLMENT Table 7A: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and Gender – 1998-99 District and Gender Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Community 291 308 152 142 101 90 7 10 166 178 0 0 717 728 Private 656 653 145 113 72 77 131 130 59 76 38 39 1,101 1,088 All 947 961 297 255 173 167 138 140 225 254 38 39 1,818 1,816 Table 7B: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and Gender – 1997-98 District and Gender Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Community 326 334 140 122 103 116 8 8 87 85 4 5 668 670 Private 580 554 133 104 92 56 117 126 80 71 32 30 1,034 941 All 906 888 273 226 195 172 125 134 167 156 36 35 1,702 1,611 Total enrolment figures for pre-schools for the 1998-99 school year indicated an increase of 9.7% over the previous year (321 additional students enrolled in pre-school education). During the period 1997-98 to 1998-99 all the districts except the Corozal District showed positive increment in the pre-school enrolment. The gender ratio for the year 1997-98 was recorded as 51% males to 49% females. On the other hand, in 1998-99 the ratio was even at 50% for males and females. The private pre-school enrolment increased by 10.8% from 19978-98 to the 1998-99 period. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 12 Table 8A: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and U/R location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Community 337 226 236 58 94 97 0 17 153 191 0 0 856 589 Private 1,262 47 196 62 71 78 232 29 107 28 66 11 1,934 255 All 1,635 273 432 120 165 175 232 46 260 219 66 11 2,790 844 Table 8B: Pre-Schools Enrolment by District, Management and U/R location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Community 451 209 212 50 55 164 0 16 112 60 0 9 830 508 Private 1,083 51 168 69 122 26 192 51 77 74 62 0 1,704 271 All 1,534 260 380 119 177 190 192 67 189 134 62 9 2,534 779 A total enrolment of 3,634 pre-school students were registered for the 1998-99 school year. This represented an increase of 9.7% over the previous year. Enrolment in urban pre-schools continued to exceed that of rural schools. Corozal District experienced a dramatic decrease in both the urban and rural areas. There was a 42% enrolment decrease in the private pre-schools of the Corozal urban area and a 41% in the rural community pre-schools. Private urban pre-schools continued to show a dominant presence in pre-school education with 53% of the total pre-school enrolment for the 1998-99 school year. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 13 5.3 PRIMARY SCHOOLS ENROLMENT Table 9A: Primary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade & Gender – 1998-99 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Sp Ed Pre-Sch Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Belize 0 0 1 3 248 253 1,191 1,062 1,028 964 1,002 854 810 893 850 836 898 839 839 794 729 721 7,596 7,219 Cayo 0 0 0 0 106 101 1,028 911 835 772 899 784 903 798 829 760 735 671 684 564 547 534 6,566 5,895 Corozal 3 3 30 32 8 20 525 503 489 473 451 496 453 464 421 465 436 386 375 367 323 323 3,514 3,532 Orange Walk 15 7 0 0 14 18 645 641 540 531 606 571 615 588 566 515 527 496 466 415 332 377 4,326 4,159 Stann Creek 0 0 13 11 85 75 550 482 450 414 444 422 440 366 346 330 335 340 245 286 265 274 3,173 3,000 Toledo 0 0 14 12 2 0 496 460 429 411 396 352 352 383 367 335 338 313 267 232 268 209 2,929 2,707 All 18 10 58 58 463 467 4,435 4,059 3,771 3,565 3,798 3,479 3,573 3,492 3,379 3,241 3,269 3,045 2,876 2,658 2,464 2,438 28,104 26,512 Table 9B: Primary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade & Gender – 1997-98 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Sp Ed Pre-Sch Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F Belize 0 0 0 0 347 335 1,036 941 910 861 890 921 958 859 889 864 905 819 833 763 736 749 7,504 7,112 Cayo 0 0 0 0 112 95 940 851 913 750 823 814 893 752 777 729 711 604 613 544 522 550 6,304 5,689 Corozal 13 12 39 37 3 0 555 494 435 466 423 486 431 437 393 414 418 370 340 321 336 296 3,386 3,333 Orange Walk 16 5 3 2 0 0 640 628 567 538 643 591 593 528 520 490 500 455 388 379 367 373 4,237 3,989 Stann Creek 0 0 10 7 84 88 544 456 446 429 450 371 357 347 375 366 313 322 266 246 262 295 3,107 2,927 Toledo 0 0 7 16 13 16 473 462 383 350 402 401 342 369 381 339 314 272 298 266 214 212 2,827 2,703 All 29 17 59 62 559 534 4,188 3,832 3,654 3,394 3,631 3,584 3,574 3,292 3,335 3,202 3,161 2,842 2,738 2,519 2,437 2,475 27,365 25,753 Total enrolment for 1998-99 increased by 1,498 students or 2.8% over the 1997-98 school year. In 1998-99, 28 pupils (0.2%) were Special Education students in the Corozal and Orange Walk District. While 116 (0.2%) of the total enrolment population were pre-school children attached to primary schools, 930 children (1.7%) accounted for ‘Beginners’ where 5 year olds children received ‘unofficial’ preparatory education attached to some primary schools. In both 1997-98 and 1998-99 school year, the majority of the student population was concentrated in Infant I. In 1997-98 there were 4,188 males accounting for 7.9% of the total enrolment and 3,832 females accounting for 7.3% of total enrolment. In 1998-99 a total of 4,435 males representing 8.1% of the population while 4,059 females accounted for 7.6% of the total population of that school year. Hence, there was a total increase of 129 students (0.2%) in the total Infant I enrolment during the 1997-98 to 1998-99 period and the gender distribution for that school grade continued favouring the males. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 14 Table 10A: Enrolment in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 0 721 1,313 1,002 0 844 1,580 1,082 0 0 0 453 2,893 4,102 Roman Catholic 5,412 1,252 3,413 4,091 1,067 3,801 1,898 2,859 1,355 2,050 897 3,793 14,042 17,846 Anglican 2,392 198 352 322 184 0 332 0 220 464 0 60 3,480 1,044 Methodist 1,984 425 0 0 246 214 0 0 369 350 276 157 2,875 1,146 Seventh Day Adven. 232 20 250 0 93 180 202 0 211 0 0 0 988 200 Nazarene 95 0 765 276 172 125 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,032 401 Assemblies of God 202 0 0 152 0 120 0 0 0 316 0 0 202 588 Other 1,488 394 0 525 0 0 282 250 0 838 0 0 1,770 2,007 All 11,805 3,010 6,093 6,368 1,762 5,284 4,294 4,191 2,155 4,018 1,173 4,463 27,282 27,334 Table 10B: Enrolment in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 0 705 1,344 986 0 822 1,408 1,020 0 0 0 461 2,752 3,994 Roman Catholic 5,284 1,224 3,261 3,924 1,096 3,481 1,909 2,829 1,432 1,890 912 3,706 13,894 17,054 Anglican 2,343 196 345 274 178 0 302 0 210 436 0 52 3,378 958 Methodist 1,983 406 0 0 246 232 0 0 381 356 246 153 2,856 1,147 Seventh Day Adven. 228 23 250 0 91 194 209 0 211 0 0 0 989 217 Nazarene 101 0 655 279 157 124 0 0 0 0 0 0 913 403 Assemblies of God 215 0 0 158 0 98 0 0 0 306 0 0 215 562 Other 1,445 463 0 517 0 0 436 113 0 812 0 0 1,881 1,905 All 11,599 3,017 5,855 6,138 1,768 4,951 4,264 3,962 2,234 3,800 1,158 4,372 26,878 26,240 From the 1997-98 to 1998-99 school period, total enrolment increased in both the urban by 404 (0.8%) and rural 1,094 (4.2%) students. All districts with the exception of Belize rural, Corozal urban and Stann Creek urban experienced a positive increase in student enrolment. The Roman Catholic Management still continued to account for the main concentration of the student enrolment in primary education. In addition, there was an increase of 148 students (1.1%) in urban enrolment and 792 (4.6%) in rural enrolment in the Roman Catholic schools. For the 1998-99 school year a total of 6,995 students were enrolled in government primary schools throughout the country. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 15 5.4 SECONDARY SCHOOLS ENROLMENT Table 11A: Secondary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender – 1998-99 Grade and Gender Form I Form II Form III Form IV All District M F M F M F M F M F Belize 708 831 536 689 405 577 302 489 1,951 2,586 Cayo 388 422 308 354 286 304 210 258 1,192 1,338 Corozal 297 215 192 184 192 191 133 163 814 753 Orange Walk 277 216 166 173 137 147 99 86 679 622 Stann Creek 168 183 139 130 137 160 79 84 523 557 Toledo 103 89 98 91 98 73 74 79 373 332 All 1,941 1,956 1,439 1,621 1,255 1,452 897 1,159 5,532 6,188 Table 11B: Secondary Schools Enrolment by District, Grade and Gender – 1997-98 Grade and Gender Form I Form II Form III Form IV All District M F M F M F M F M F Belize 733 861 493 637 392 548 309 474 1,927 2,520 Cayo 341 369 320 335 273 318 196 245 1,130 1,267 Corozal 268 222 191 209 165 181 130 128 754 740 Orange Walk 246 254 165 179 147 132 118 107 676 672 Stann Creek 136 141 132 156 69 98 88 72 425 467 Toledo 159 107 80 94 81 49 56 56 376 306 All 1,883 1,954 1,381 1,610 1,127 1,326 897 1,082 5,288 5,972 Secondary school enrolment for 1998-99 (11,720 students) registered an increase of 4.1% (460 students) over the 1997-98 (11,260 students) school year. This increase is attributed to the opening of one private school in the Cayo District and the inclusion of Lynam Natural Resources College of Belize, a secondary school under the Ministry of Natural Resources. Overall enrolment favoured the male population with an additional 28 male students over the females. Nonetheless, the male to female distribution for the 1998-99 school year was 47.2% to 52.8%. Since the 1993-94 school year, overall secondary schools enrolment and by Form continued to be dominated by females. For the two school years in question, Belize, Cayo and Stann Creek Districts showed a high incidence of female enrolment. The Belize District, with the highest number of secondary schools, continued to cater for the main concentration of total secondary school enrolment, which registered 38.7% in 1998-99 and 39.5% in 1997-98. The figures for Form I for 1998-99 include 153 students in the Preparatory grade found in Belize and Stann Creek District. Similarly, in 1997-98, 146 students were enrolled in Preparatory grade for the same districts plus the Toledo District. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 16 Table 12A: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 726 101 1,078 0 0 404 561 172 0 378 0 0 2,365 1,055 Gov’t-Aided Comm. 575 0 0 0 668 0 0 0 590 0 705 0 2,538 0 Gov’t-Aided Denom. 2,964 156 1,440 0 0 495 568 0 0 0 0 0 4,972 651 Specially Assisted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Private 0 15 12 0 0 0 0 0 112 0 0 0 124 15 All 4,265 272 2,530 0 668 899 1,129 172 702 378 705 0 9,999 1,721 Table 12B: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government 677 103 1,043 0 0 369 589 193 0 240 0 0 2,309 905 Gov’t-Aided Comm. 517 0 0 0 672 0 0 0 575 0 682 0 2,446 0 Gov’t-Aided Denom. 2,801 142 621 0 0 453 566 0 0 0 0 0 3,988 595 Specially Assisted 190 0 283 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 473 0 Private 0 17 450 0 0 0 0 0 77 0 0 0 527 17 All 4,185 262 2,397 0 672 822 1,155 193 652 240 682 0 9,743 1,517 Enrolment by urban/rural location showed that 85.3% of secondary school enrolment was concentrated in urban schools during the 1998-99 school year, as compared to 86.5% in the previous year. Overall, there was positive increment in the total enrolment of secondary schools under the various managements. Some 48.0% (5,623 students) of the total enrolment for 1998-99 attended Government-Aided Denominational secondary schools and 40.7% (4,583 students) in 1997-98. The reason for the dramatic increase in enrolment is that two Specially Assisted secondary schools and one Private school were designated Government-Aided Denominational. Government secondary schools were the main secondary level institutions attended by students in the rural areas. For 1998-99, 61.3% (1,055 students) of the total rural enrolment attended Government rural secondary schools while for 1997-98 it was 59.7% (905 students). Toledo is the only district without a Government secondary school. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 17 5.5 REPETITION AND DROPOUT RATES 5.5.1 PRIMARY SCHOOLS Table 13A: Primary Schools Repetition Rate by District and Grade – 1997-98 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 80 12 231 12 113 6 119 7 107 6 113 6 175 10 172 11 107 7 1,217 8.3 Cayo 11 5 238 13 117 7 121 7 135 8 109 7 114 9 98 8 133 12 1,076 9.0 Corozal 0 0 170 16 90 10 98 11 87 10 85 11 83 11 51 8 65 10 729 10.8 Orange Walk 7 22 194 15 89 8 151 12 121 11 133 13 79 8 71 9 98 13 943 11.5 Stann Creek 5 3 127 13 64 7 97 12 82 12 74 10 102 16 64 13 111 20 726 12.0 Toledo 0 0 200 21 99 14 126 16 82 12 83 12 74 13 59 10 78 18 801 14.5 All 103 9 1,160 14 572 8 712 10 614 9 597 9 627 10 515 10 592 12 5,492 10.3 Table 13B: Primary Schools Repetition Rate by District and Grade – 1996-97 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 41 9 172 10 82 5 75 5 98 6 91 6 138 9 105 7 55 4 857 6.9 Cayo 0 0 218 13 151 9 112 7 126 8 102 7 80 6 66 6 108 11 963 8.4 Corozal 1 7 185 19 99 11 118 13 103 12 96 12 106 15 79 12 83 15 870 13.6 Orange Walk 3 4 237 19 115 10 170 14 140 13 120 12 94 11 79 9 73 10 1,031 12.4 Stann Creek 0 0 133 15 54 7 93 14 87 12 137 21 61 11 59 11 95 20 719 13.0 Toledo 0 0 122 17 70 11 78 12 70 14 81 18 68 17 65 22 80 26 634 16.0 All 45 5 1,067 15 571 9 646 10 624 10 627 11 547 10 453 9 494 11 5,074 10.6 The 1997-98 primary school records showed a repetition rate of 10.3% (5,492 repeaters) compared to 10.6% (5,074 repeaters) in 1996-97. For the 1997-98 school year Toledo District exhibited the highest repetition rate with 14.5%, followed by Stann Creek 12.0%, Orange Walk 11.5%, Corozal 10.8%, Cayo 9.0% and Belize 8.3%. Of the total enrolment 3,143 male students (11.5%) repeated a grade as compared to 2,349 females (9.1%) in 1997-98. Analysing repetition rate by grades, Infant I showed the highest incidence of repeaters with 1,160 (14.0%) for the 1997-98 school year and 1,067 (15.0%) in 1996-97. This could be attributed to the fact that many primary schools retain the students for two years in Infant I. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 18 Table 14A: Primary Schools Dropout Rate by District and Grade – 1997-98 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 0 0 7 0 4 0 3 0 3 0 7 0 7 0 29 2 14 1 74 0.5 Cayo 1 0 10 1 12 1 9 1 18 1 23 2 30 2 49 4 19 2 171 1.4 Corozal 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 14 2 19 2 25 4 16 3 81 1.2 Orange Walk 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 1 13 1 24 3 11 1 60 0.7 Stann Creek 0 0 7 1 1 0 7 1 9 1 10 1 12 2 21 4 14 3 81 1.3 Toledo 0 0 5 1 1 0 3 0 6 1 7 1 19 3 52 9 36 8 129 2.3 All 2 0 32 0 22 0 23 0 39 1 68 1 100 2 200 4 110 2 596 1.1 Table 14B: Primary Schools Dropout Rate by District and Grade – 1996-97 Infant Infant Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Beginners I II I II III IV V VI All District No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 2 0 7 0 14 1 19 1 0 0 49 0.4 Cayo 0 0 14 1 12 1 16 1 18 1 15 1 57 5 40 4 0 0 172 1.5 Corozal 0 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 5 1 12 1 31 4 29 4 4 1 93 1.5 Orange Walk 0 0 5 0 6 1 3 0 11 1 18 2 44 5 57 7 7 1 151 1.8 Stann Creek 2 1 10 1 7 1 8 1 13 2 8 1 18 3 15 3 0 0 81 1.5 Toledo 0 0 7 1 1 0 4 1 0 0 11 3 25 6 15 5 0 0 63 1.6 All 2 0 40 1 30 0 42 1 49 1 71 1 189 4 175 4 11 0 609 1.3 In general, figures for 1996-97 and 1997-98 school year showed a very low dropout rate. In 1997-98 the dropout rate was 1.1% whereas the previous year it was 1.3%. The dropout rate ranged from 0.5% in Belize to 2.3% in Toledo for 1997-98 and 0.4% in Belize to 1.8% in Orange Walk for 1996-97. These figures do not necessarily present a fair picture of the dropout situation in primary schools in Belize. The main reason for inaccurate statistics is due to poor record keeping at the school level and the improper definition of dropout. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 19 Table 15A: Children of Age 12 & 13+ Years Enrolled in Primary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age – 1998-99 Enrolment 12 yrs 13+ yrs Grade M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Infant I 4,435 4,059 8,494 3 0.1 1 0.0 4 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Infant II 3,771 3,565 7,336 7 0.2 1 0.0 8 0.1 3 0.1 3 0.1 6 0.1 Standard I 3,798 3,479 7,277 23 0.6 14 0.4 37 0.5 10 0.3 4 0.1 14 0.2 Standard II 3,573 3,492 7,065 73 2.0 67 1.9 140 2.0 23 0.6 14 0.4 37 0.5 Standard III 3,379 3,241 6,620 293 8.7 191 5.9 484 7.3 131 3.9 67 2.1 198 3.0 Standard IV 3,269 3,045 6,314 666 20.4 526 17.3 1,192 18.9 415 12.7 227 7.5 642 10.2 Standard V 2,876 2,658 5,534 895 31.1 873 32.8 1,768 31.9 968 33.7 617 23.2 1,585 28.6 Standard VI 2,464 2,438 4,902 703 28.5 861 35.3 1,564 31.9 1,570 63.7 1,311 53.8 2,881 58.8 Total 27,565 25,977 53,542 2,663 9.7 2,534 9.8 5,197 9.7 3,120 11.3 2,243 8.6 5,363 10.0 Table 15B: Children of Age 12 & 13+ Years Enrolled in Primary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age – 1997-98 Enrolment 12 yrs 13+ yrs Grade M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Infant I 4,188 3,832 8,020 2 0.0 0 0.0 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Infant II 3,654 3,394 7,048 3 0.1 3 0.1 6 0.1 3 0.1 0 0.0 3 0.0 Standard I 3,631 3,584 7,215 16 0.4 11 0.3 27 0.4 6 0.2 4 0.1 10 0.1 Standard II 3,574 3,292 6,866 74 2.1 54 1.6 128 1.9 25 0.7 19 0.6 44 0.6 Standard III 3,335 3,202 6,537 279 8.4 179 5.6 458 7.0 103 3.1 60 1.9 163 2.5 Standard IV 3,161 2,842 6,003 655 20.7 467 16.4 1,122 18.7 390 12.3 227 8.0 617 10.3 Standard V 2,738 2,519 5,257 869 31.7 812 32.2 1,681 32.0 973 35.5 615 24.4 1,588 30.2 Standard VI 2,437 2,475 4,912 668 27.4 845 34.1 1,513 30.8 1,583 65.0 1,370 55.4 2,953 60.1 Total 26,718 25,140 51,858 2,566 9.6 2,371 9.4 4,937 9.5 3,083 11.5 2,295 9.1 5,378 10.4 Given an 8 year education cycle and compulsory entry age of 5 years it is to be expected that children of 13 years would have completed this cycle if an automatic promotion policy were in place. For the 1997-98 school year 5,383 or 10.1% of the total enrolment were overage for the class they were in. 1998-99 figures showed a slight decrease of 9.8% or 5,369 students. This translates into 0.3% points lower than the previous year. There were in 1998-99 2,482children of age 13 years and older in classes ranging from Infant II to Standard V compared to 2,425 in the 1997-98 school year. Overall overage enrolment was higher for the 1997-98 school year compared to 1998-99 (5,378 to 5,363). But further analysis shows that female overage enrolment was higher for the 1997-98 school year (2,295 to 2,243) while male overage enrolment was higher for the 1998-99 school year (3,120 to 3,083). Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 20 5.5.2 SECONDARY SCHOOLS Table 16A: Secondary Schools Repetition* and Dropout* Rate by District and Gender – 1997-98 Enrolment Repetition Dropout District M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Belize 1,927 2,520 4,447 224 11.62 247 9.80 471 10.59 222 11.52 222 8.81 444 9.98 Cayo 1,130 1,267 2,397 85 7.52 78 6.16 163 6.80 159 14.07 114 9.00 273 11.39 Corozal 754 740 1,494 48 6.37 32 4.32 80 5.35 91 12.07 54 7.30 145 9.71 Orange Walk 676 672 1,348 89 13.17 99 14.73 188 13.95 70 10.36 45 6.70 115 8.53 Stann Creek 425 467 892 32 7.53 35 7.49 67 7.51 21 4.94 21 4.50 42 4.71 Toledo 376 306 682 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 Total 5,288 5,972 11,260 478 9.04 491 8.22 969 8.61 563 10.65 456 7.64 1,019 9.05 *No repeater data for Pine Ridge, Belmopan Baptist, Corozal Community College & Toledo Community College; No dropout data for Belmopan Baptist & Toledo Community College Table 16B: Secondary Schools Repetition* and Dropout* Rate by District and Gender – 1996-97 Enrolment Repetition Dropout District M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Belize 1,874 2,447 4,321 165 8.80 162 6.62 327 7.57 202 10.78 195 7.97 397 9.19 Cayo 1,167 1,229 2,396 109 9.34 86 7.00 195 8.14 126 10.80 88 7.16 214 8.93 Corozal 768 674 1,442 104 13.54 59 8.75 163 11.30 112 14.58 72 10.68 184 12.76 Orange Walk 691 639 1,330 116 16.79 121 18.94 237 17.82 184 26.63 139 21.75 323 24.29 Stann Creek 377 438 815 48 12.73 50 11.42 98 12.02 23 6.10 34 7.76 57 6.99 Toledo 334 274 608 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 Total 5,211 5,701 10,912 542 10.40 478 8.38 1,020 9.35 647 12.42 528 9.26 1,175 10.77 * No data was reported for Isabella, Mopan Technical & Toledo Community College Secondary school repetition and dropout rates decreased for the period 1996-97 to 1997-98 school year from 9.35% to 8.61% and 10.77% 9.05% respectively. For the 1997-98 school year the highest repetition rate was registered in the Orange Walk District and the lowest in the Corozal District with 13.95% and 5.35% respectively. The dropout rate ranged from 11.39% in the Cayo District to 4.71% in the Stann Creek District in 1997-98. Statistics show that for both school years repetition and dropout rates were higher among the male population. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 21 Table 17A: Secondary Schools Repetition* and Dropout* Rate by Grade and Gender – 1997-98 Enrolment Repetition Dropout District M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Preparatory 86 60 146 0 0.00 1 1.67 1 0.68 24 27.91 4 6.67 28 19.18 Form I 1,797 1,894 3,691 193 10.74 176 9.29 369 10.00 243 13.52 173 9.13 416 11.27 Form II 1,381 1,610 2,991 129 9.34 137 8.51 266 8.89 141 10.21 121 7.52 262 8.76 Form III 1,127 1,326 2,453 127 11.27 124 9.35 251 10.23 117 10.38 100 7.54 217 8.85 Form IV 897 1,082 1,979 29 3.23 53 4.90 82 4.14 38 4.24 58 5.36 96 4.85 Total 5,288 5,972 11,260 478 9.04 491 8.22 969 8.61 563 10.65 456 7.64 1,019 9.05 *No repeater data for Pine Ridge, Belmopan Baptist, Corozal Community College & Toledo Community College; No dropout data for Belmopan Baptist & Toledo Community College Table 17B: Secondary Schools Repetition* and Dropout* Rate by Grade and Gender – 1996-97 Enrolment Repetition Dropout District M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Preparatory 87 74 161 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 20 22.99 22 29.73 42 26.09 Form I 1,829 1,823 3,652 203 11.10 148 8.12 351 9.61 292 15.97 208 11.41 500 13.69 Form II 1,347 1,542 2,889 154 11.43 160 10.38 314 10.87 169 12.55 146 9.47 315 10.90 Form III 1,121 1,320 2,441 139 12.40 129 9.77 268 10.98 117 10.44 98 7.42 215 8.81 Form IV 827 942 1,769 46 5.56 41 4.35 87 4.92 49 5.93 54 5.73 103 5.82 Total 5,211 5,701 10,912 542 10.40 478 8.38 1,020 9.35 647 12.42 528 9.26 1,175 10.77 * No data was reported for Isabella, Mopan Technical & Toledo Community College For the 1997-98 school year the highest incidence of repetition by grade occurred in Form III with 10.23% followed by Form I with 10.00%, Form II with 8.89%, Form IV with 4.14% and Preparatory with 0.68%. Total repetition rate indicated a decline of 0.7 percentage points for the two years. On the other hand, for the same year dropout rate was higher for the Preparatory grade with 19.18% followed by Form I with 11.27%, Form III with 8.85%, Form II with 8.76% and Form IV with 4.85%. Dropout figures clearly signal at a positive decline from 1996-97 to 1997-98 of approximately 1.7 percentage points. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 22 Table 18A: Children of Age 16 & 17+ Years Enrolled in Secondary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age – 1998-99 Enrolment 16 yrs 17+ yrs Grade M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Preparatory 89 64 153 7 7.9 11 17.2 18 11.8 4 4.5 2 3.1 6 3.9 Form I 1,852 1,892 3,744 185 10.0 181 9.6 366 9.8 84 4.5 71 3.8 155 4.1 Form II 1,439 1,621 3,060 362 25.2 315 19.4 677 22.1 205 14.2 139 8.9 344 11.2 Form III 1,255 1,452 2,707 348 27.7 431 29.7 779 28.8 523 41.7 445 30.6 968 35.8 Form IV 897 1,159 2,056 185 20.6 337 29.1 522 25.4 655 73.0 682 58.8 1,337 65.0 Total 5,532 6,188 11,720 1,087 19.6 1,275 20.6 2,362 20.2 1,471 26.6 1,339 21.6 2,810 24.0 Table 18B: Children of Age 16 & 17+ Years Enrolled in Secondary Schools by Grade, Gender and Age – 1997-98 Enrolment 16 yrs 17+ yrs Grade M F Total M % F % Total % M % F % Total % Preparatory 86 60 146 4 4.7 2 3.3 6 4.1 4 4.7 0 0.0 4 2.7 Form I 1,797 1,894 3,691 142 7.9 104 5.5 246 6.7 64 3.4 49 2.6 113 3.1 Form II 1,381 1,610 2,991 298 21.6 269 16.7 567 19.0 174 12.6 141 8.8 315 10.5 Form III 1,127 1,326 2,453 348 30.9 408 30.0 756 30.8 403 35.8 354 26.0 757 30.9 Form IV 897 1,082 1,979 237 26.4 347 32.1 584 29.5 577 64.3 607 56.1 1,184 59.8 Total 5,288 5,972 11,260 1,029 19.5 1,130 18.9 2,159 19.2 1,222 23.1 1,151 19.3 2,373 21.1 Enrolment figures by grade and gender indicated that a significant number of students were overaged for the class they were in. It is important to note that 17+ year olds could be found across grade levels from Preparatory to Form IV. Considering the 8 year primary and 4 year secondary school cycles, students should complete secondary school at the age of 17. The 1998-99 figures indicated that 24.0% of the students were overaged for the form they were in while for 1997-98 it was 21.1%. Of major significance is the fact that for both school years there were more overaged males than females (26.6% to 21.6% in 1998-99 and 23.1% to 19.3% in 1997-98 respectively). Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 23 5.6 PARTICIPATION RATE PRIMARY Table 19A: Percentage of Primary School Age Population Enrolled in G & GA Primary Schools by District and Gender – 1998-99 Part Age 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 Total Rate Boys No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 853 81.2 841 83.5 852 84.6 880 92.0 865 93.0 771 80.9 811 88.5 723 88.2 504 56.4 231 29.3 7,331 78.6 Cayo 723 94.0 723 98.1 751 101.9 755 107.8 738 108.4 708 101.4 662 98.7 611 101.8 415 63.5 224 38.8 6,310 92.4 Corozal 405 78.3 394 79.5 378 76.3 417 88.6 397 86.7 377 80.3 358 79.4 329 81.6 201 45.7 108 27.8 3,364 73.3 Orange Walk 458 71.9 442 72.3 517 84.6 504 86.8 535 94.8 498 86.1 471 84.7 401 80.6 257 47.4 122 25.5 4,205 74.3 Stann Creek 311 81.7 350 95.9 341 93.4 349 100.6 348 103.2 316 91.4 293 88.2 302 101.7 226 69.8 142 49.6 2,978 88.1 Toledo 304 83.0 299 85.2 340 96.8 313 93.8 288 88.8 322 96.9 292 91.4 299 104.6 252 80.9 111 40.3 2,820 86.7 Country 3,054 82.1 3,049 85.5 3,179 89.1 3,218 95.0 3,171 96.3 2,992 88.6 2,887 88.9 2,665 91.8 1,855 58.6 938 33.5 27,008 81.8 Girls Belize 823 73.6 836 74.8 897 80.8 883 78.7 821 78.9 712 72.3 743 76.9 714 75.9 379 39.1 143 15.9 6,951 67.7 Cayo 710 93.9 649 85.8 672 89.5 704 92.8 704 100.1 645 96.8 594 90.9 538 84.6 329 50.1 132 21.8 5,677 81.8 Corozal 412 84.7 437 89.9 410 84.9 421 86.3 393 86.9 374 87.3 353 84.0 315 77.0 185 43.8 65 16.7 3,365 75.4 Orange Walk 470 80.5 471 80.7 516 89.0 522 89.1 462 85.0 482 93.7 430 85.2 405 82.4 196 38.7 70 14.9 4,024 75.0 Stann Creek 321 89.5 326 90.9 351 98.5 316 87.8 324 97.0 298 94.3 319 102.8 294 97.4 196 62.9 108 37.5 2,853 86.6 Toledo 263 78.9 298 89.4 337 101.8 301 90.1 302 97.4 285 97.1 322 1,11.8 271 96.7 191 66.1 57 21.3 2,627 85.9 Country 2,999 82.5 3,017 83.0 3,183 88.1 3,147 86.3 3,006 88.8 2,796 87.3 2,761 87.8 2,537 82.9 1,476 46.8 575 19.7 25,497 76.3 All Belize 1,676 77.3 1,677 78.9 1,749 82.6 1,763 84.8 1,686 85.6 1,483 76.5 1,554 82.5 1,437 81.6 883 47.4 374 22.2 14,282 72.9 Cayo 1,433 94.0 1,372 91.9 1,423 95.6 1,459 100.0 1,442 104.2 1,353 99.2 1,256 94.8 1,149 92.9 744 56.8 356 30.1 11,987 87.1 Corozal 817 81.4 831 84.6 788 80.5 838 87.4 790 86.8 751 83.7 711 81.6 644 79.3 386 44.8 173 22.2 6,729 74.3 Orange Walk 928 76.0 913 76.4 1,033 86.7 1,026 88.0 997 90.0 980 89.7 901 84.9 806 81.5 453 43.2 192 20.3 8,229 74.7 Stann Creek 632 85.5 676 93.4 692 95.9 665 94.1 672 100.2 614 92.8 612 95.3 596 99.5 422 66.4 250 43.6 5,831 87.4 Toledo 567 81.1 597 87.2 677 99.3 614 91.9 590 93.0 607 97.0 614 101.0 570 100.7 443 73.8 168 31.0 5,447 86.3 Country 6,053 82.3 6,066 84.2 6,362 88.6 6,365 90.4 6,177 92.5 5,788 87.9 5,648 88.4 5,202 87.2 3,331 52.7 1,513 26.5 52,505 79.0 This table presents the proportion of children of a given age group enrolled in primary schools for the 1998-99 school year. The above 100% figures reflect inaccuracies in the current population at each level and/or migration of children both among districts and from neighbouring villages outside the country. During the 1998-99 school year 79.0% of the school age population of 5-14 year olds were participating in primary education in government and government-aided schools. Approximately, an additional 2% were enrolled in private and specially assisted schools. For schools years 1998-99 and 1997-98 Stann Creek District demonstrated the highest participation rates (87.4% in 1998-99 and 89.0% in 1997- 98). Moreover, participation rates for 5 year olds increased from 79.7% in 1997-98 to 82.3% in 1998-99. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 24 Table 19B: Percentage of Primary School Age Population Enrolled in G & GA Primary Schools by District and Gender – 1997-98 Part Age 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 Total Rate Boys No. % No % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 816 79.4 837 84.9 831 84.3 849 90.7 838 92.1 757 81.1 837 93.3 737 91.9 501 57.3 228 29.5 7,231 79.2 Cayo 672 91.5 768 109.1 759 107.9 710 106.2 715 110.0 652 97.8 612 95.5 585 102.1 393 63.0 219 39.7 6,085 93.4 Corozal 399 79.1 372 76.9 359 74.2 391 85.1 369 82.6 324 70.8 330 75.0 310 78.8 230 53.6 105 27.7 3,189 71.2 Orange Walk 402 66.2 495 85.0 506 86.9 547 98.9 486 90.4 458 83.1 411 77.5 411 86.7 291 56.3 115 25.2 4,122 76.5 Stann Creek 301 80.8 364 102.0 346 96.9 351 103.5 306 92.8 307 90.8 315 96.9 270 92.9 233 73.6 138 49.3 2,931 88.7 Toledo 285 81.7 309 92.4 325 97.2 309 97.2 313 101.3 310 97.9 290 95.3 257 94.4 223 75.2 101 38.5 2,722 87.9 Country 2,875 80.0 3,145 91.3 3,126 90.7 3,157 96.4 3,027 95.1 2,808 86.0 2,795 89.1 2,570 91.6 1,871 61.2 906 33.5 26,280 82.4 Girls Belize 799 74.8 759 71.1 747 70.4 908 84.7 867 87.2 775 82.3 783 84.8 660 73.4 403 43.5 152 17.7 6,853 69.9 Cayo 604 81.3 669 90.0 688 93.2 681 91.4 689 99.6 583 89.1 566 88.1 542 86.7 323 50.1 147 24.7 5,492 80.5 Corozal 384 83.9 394 86.1 408 89.7 400 87.1 352 82.6 349 86.5 317 80.1 280 72.7 198 49.8 61 16.6 3,143 74.8 Orange Walk 408 71.8 480 84.5 544 96.4 462 81.1 473 89.5 444 88.7 401 81.6 344 71.9 235 47.7 73 16.0 3,864 74.0 Stann Creek 303 88.2 337 98.1 329 96.4 306 88.8 318 99.5 312 103.1 306 103.0 289 100.0 200 67.1 116 42.1 2,816 89.3 Toledo 281 88.0 312 97.7 328 103.4 328 102.4 298 100.3 318 113.0 278 100.7 256 95.2 175 63.1 55 21.5 2,629 89.6 Country 2,779 79.4 2,951 84.3 3,044 87.6 3,085 87.9 2,997 92.0 2,781 90.2 2,651 87.6 2,371 80.5 1,534 50.5 604 21.5 24,797 77.1 All Belize 1,615 77.0 1,596 77.7 1,578 771.1 1,757 87.5 1,705 89.5 1,532 81.7 1,620 89.0 1,397 82.1 904 50.2 380 23.3 14,084 74.4 Cayo 1,276 86.4 1,437 99.3 1,447 100.4 1,391 98.4 1,404 104.7 1,235 93.5 1,178 91.8 1,127 94.1 716 56.4 366 31.9 11,577 86.8 Corozal 783 81.4 766 81.4 767 81.8 791 86.1 721 82.6 673 78.2 647 77.4 590 75.8 428 51.8 166 22.2 6,332 72.9 Orange Walk 810 68.9 975 84.8 1,050 91.6 1,009 89.8 959 89.9 902 85.7 812 79.5 755 79.3 526 52.1 188 20.6 7,986 75.3 Stann Creek 604 84.4 701 100.1 675 96.7 657 96.1 624 96.1 619 96.6 621 99.8 559 96.4 433 70.4 254 45.7 5,747 89.0 Toledo 566 84.7 621 95.0 653 100.2 637 99.8 611 100.8 628 105.0 568 97.8 513 94.8 398 69.4 156 30.1 5,351 88.7 Country 5,654 79.7 6,096 87.8 6,170 89.1 6,242 92.0 6,024 93.5 5,589 88.1 5,446 88.4 4,941 85.9 3,405 55.9 1,510 27.4 51,077 79.7 This table presents the proportion of children of a given age group enrolled in primary schools for the 1998-99 school year. The above 100% figures reflect inaccuracies in the current population at each level and/or migration of children both among districts and from neighbouring villages outside the country. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 25 5.7 PARTICIPATION RATE SECONDARY Table 20A: Percentage of Population Age 11-20 Enrolled in Secondary Schools by District – 1998-99 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 Part Rate Age No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % % Belize 5 0.3 129 7.9 537 40.5 933 123.9 1,081 70.1 899 56.5 524 35.1 289 19.3 110 7.5 30 2.1 31.1 Cayo 3 0.2 43 3.6 295 29.1 488 70.1 536 51.0 537 48.1 327 31.1 188 17.9 70 6.8 43 4.3 24.1 Corozal 0 0.0 46 6.0 170 24.6 303 63.7 342 46.6 304 41.4 216 31.3 108 15.6 52 7.7 26 4.0 22.4 Orange Walk 1 0.1 50 5.3 152 16.9 294 45.0 250 28.2 257 28.7 172 20.5 80 9.5 29 3.5 16 2.0 15.1 Stann Creek 10 1.6 29 5.1 92 16.9 166 40.7 242 57.8 245 45.2 163 32.0 81 15.9 36 7.3 16 3.3 21.1 Toledo 0 0.0 16 2.9 69 13.0 124 29.6 142 28.8 120 23.4 110 22.8 82 17.0 33 7.0 9 2.0 14.1 Country 19 0.3 313 5.5 1,315 26.3 2,308 67.8 2,593 50.6 2,362 43.8 1,512 29.8 828 16.3 330 6.7 140 2.9 23.1 Table 20B: Percentage of Population Age 11-20 Enrolled in Secondary Schools by District – 1997-98 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 Part Rate Age No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % % Belize 5 0.3 136 8.7 631 53.9 982 151.7 1,035 67.7 817 53.2 516 35.7 230 15.9 64 4.5 31 2.3 31.9 Cayo 2 0.2 80 7.2 309 32.2 477 71.1 533 52.4 474 43.8 306 30.1 144 14.1 38 3.8 34 3.5 23.7 Corozal 3 0.4 26 3.5 136 19.7 265 55.1 320 46.1 304 43.2 218 32.9 132 19.9 57 8.8 33 5.3 22.1 Orange Walk 3 0.3 57 6.4 198 24.4 303 49.7 284 33.3 218 25.3 166 20.5 75 9.3 32 4.1 12 1.6 16.4 Stann Creek 2 0.3 44 8.2 108 21.3 188 51.2 197 46.7 182 34.7 107 21.7 40 8.1 18 3.8 6 1.3 18.2 Toledo 0 0.0 9 1.7 63 12.3 147 39.6 185 39.5 164 33.5 65 14.1 36 7.8 9 2.0 4 0.9 14.3 Country 15 0.2 352 6.5 1,445 31.1 2,362 75.1 2,554 51.2 2,159 41.5 1,378 28.2 657 13.4 218 4.6 120 2.6 23.1 For both 1998-99 and 1997-98 school year 23.1% of the 11-20 year old population were participating in secondary education. Statistics showed that a significant number of 11-14 year olds were attending secondary school in 1998-99: 2,308 14-year olds, 1,315 13-year olds, 313 12-year olds and 19 11-year olds. This represents 3,955 (33.7% of total enrolment) 11-14 year olds for 1998-99 compared to 4,174 (37.1% of total enrolment) in 1997-98. Both tables suggest that the majority of students in secondary schools were between the ages of 13-16 (73.2% in 1998-99 and 75.7% in 1997-98). Given the 8 year primary school cycle and 4 years at secondary school it seems quite normal for the high percentage of 13–16 year old students enrolled. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 26 6.0 ENROLMENT TRENDS Table 21: Pre-School Enrolment Trends – 1980 to 1998-99 Official Age Gross Enrolment No. of Group Population Enrolment Annual % Ratio % Year Pre-Sch. M F M F Total Increase Coverage M F 1980 - 4,631 4,519 610 564 1,174 N/A 12.8 13.2 12.5 1985 - 5,292 5,171 1,058 1,161 2,219 N/A 21.2 20.0 22.5 1989-90 73 5,838 5,694 0 0 2,695 N/A 23.4 23.1 24.6 1990-91 76 6,038 5,859 0 0 2,748 2.0 30.9 N/A N/A 1991-92 82 6,165 6,050 1,426 1,488 2,914 6.0 23.9 23.1 24.6 1992-93 83 6,352 6,174 1,596 1,566 3,162 8.7 25.2 25.1 25.4 1993-94 83 6,542 6,363 1,596 1,566 3,162 8.7 24.5 24.4 24.6 1994-95 90 6,667 6,489 1,607 1,704 3,311 4.7 25.2 24.1 26.3 1995-96 88 6,762 6,867 1,606 1,700 3,306 -0.2 24.3 23.8 24.8 1996-97 94 6,937 7,034 1,639 1,716 3,355 1.5 24.0 23.6 24.4 1997-98 88 6,589 6,643 1,702 1,611 3,313 -1.3 25.0 25.8 24.3 1998-99 98 6,330 6,335 1,818 1,816 3,634 9.7 28.7 28.7 28.7 Pre-school enrolment for the 1997-98 school year showed a slight decrease of 1.3% but the following year it again continued on an upward trend to 9.7%. This had in turn increased the participation rate to 28.7%, which had remained constant at an average of 24.0% for the past seven years. In general, pre- school participation rate of the 3-4 year olds has been very low remaining at less than 30.0% for the past 20 years. Table 22: G & GA Primary School Enrolment Trends – 1981-82 to 1998-99 Infant Standard Annual Pre- % Year Sch Beg. I II I II III IV V VI All Increase 1981-82 N/A N/A 6,477 4,697 4,710 4,444 4,322 3,896 3,285 3,250 35,018 - 1982-83 N/A N/A 6,560 4,848 4,774 4,677 4,193 4,068 3,391 3,469 35,980 2.6 1983-84 N/A N/A 6,991 5,125 4,875 4,832 4,599 4,230 3,628 3,473 37,753 4.9 1984-85 N/A N/A 7,158 5,168 4,992 4,764 4,588 4,324 3,809 3,709 38,512 2.0 1985-86 2,219 N/A 7,357 5,155 5,218 4,831 4,493 4,364 3,996 3,798 39,212 1.8 1986-87 N/A N/A 7,449 5,376 5,049 4,841 4,667 4,409 4,074 3,914 39,779 1.4 1987-88 N/A N/A 7,835 5,643 5,375 5,088 4,859 4,570 4,206 4,010 41,586 4.5 1988-89 N/A N/A 8,035 5,775 5,579 5,214 4,933 4,619 4,234 4,005 42,394 1.9 1989-90 2,695 N/A 8,427 6,045 5,920 5,466 5,122 4,774 4,358 4,089 44,201 4.3 1990-91 2,748 1,378 7,449 6,319 6,271 5,721 5,311 4,928 4,479 4,167 46,023 4.1 1991-92 2,914 1,842 7,240 6,658 6,201 5,789 5,459 5,231 4,542 4,248 47,210 2.6 1992-93 3,162 1,980 7,345 6,609 6,521 5,995 5,596 5,389 4,883 4,294 48,612 3.0 1993-94 3,162 1,953 7,692 6,694 6,521 6,439 5,779 5,506 5,117 4,590 50,291 3.5 1994-95 3,311 1,899 7,895 6,965 6,611 6,370 6,061 5,622 5,190 4,764 51,377 2.2 1995-96 3,306 1,738 8,244 7,193 6,863 6,671 6,040 6,038 5,282 4,925 52,994 3.1 1996-97 3,355 1,366 8,035 7,336 7,126 6,775 6,388 5,837 5,385 4,862 53,110 0.2 1997-98 3,313 1,260 8,020 7,048 7,215 6,866 6,537 6,003 5,257 4,912 53,118 0.0 1998-99 3,634 1,074 8,494 7,336 7,277 7,065 6,620 6,314 5,534 4,902 54,616 2.8 Since the early 1980’s primary school enrolment averaged an increase of 2.6%. The 1997-98 figures indicated a 0.0% annual increment, but by the 1998-99 school statistics showed a 2.8% increment. This increment could be attributed to a high intake of 5 year olds in 1998-99 as compared to 1997-98 (82.3% in 1998-99 to 79.7% in 1997-98). Also of particular interest is the gradual decrease in the number of ‘Beginners’ from 1993-94 onwards (1,980 in 1993-94 to 1,074 in 1998-99). Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 27 Table 23: Secondary School Enrolment Trends – 1982-83 to 1998-99 Admission Number Total Admission Total Enrolment Total % Year M F First Form All Forms Annual Increase 1982-83 - - - 5,522 - 1983-84 783 1,024 1,807 5,611 1.6 1984-85 1,054 1,163 2,217 6,532 16.4 1985-86 940 1,116 2,056 6,676 2.2 1986-87 993 1,099 2,092 6,853 2.7 1987-88 1,093 1,137 2,230 7,326 6.9 1988-89 1,100 1,217 2,317 7,592 3.6 1989-90 1,165 1,269 2,434 7,743 2.0 1990-91 1,335 1,368 2,703 7,904 2.1 1991-92 1,403 1,500 2,903 8,710 10.2 1992-93 1,526 1,653 3,179 9,457 8.6 1993-94 1,689 1,649 3,338 9,886 4.5 1994-95 1,652 1,787 3,439 10,147 2.6 1995-96 1,848 1,846 3,694 10,648 4.9 1996-97 1,916 1,897 3,813 10,912 2.5 1997-98 1,883 1,954 3,837 11,260 3.2 1998-99 1,941 1,956 3,897 11,720 4.1 Secondary school enrolment has increased dramatically since 1982-83 to the point where it has more than doubled in 1998-99 school year. Likewise the total admission rate has increased but rather slowly. For the past three school years, the total admission in Form I has not had a significant increment. This could be attributed to the limited space for new students which is further compounded by the high repetition rate in Form I. In other words promotion and graduates practices influences on the size of the admission numbers. Note that enrolment figures for 1998-99 school year takes into account a secondary school managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 28 6.1 TRANSITION RATE Table 24: Transition Rate from Primary to Secondary School Males Females Total District 1998-99 1997-98 1998-99 1997-98 1998-99 1997-98 Belize 92.0% 92.2% 104.3% 108.6% 98.3% 100.5% Cayo 77.5% 69.0% 84.3% 67.5% 80.9% 68.2% Corozal 90.5% 81.9% 79.0% 76.7% 85.2% 79.3% Orange Walk 74.1% 62.3% 54.5% 62.8% 64.2% 62.6% Stann Creek 73.9% 61.6% 72.4% 67.0% 73.1% 64.3% Toledo 62.8% 92.4% 48.4% 59.1% 55.2% 75.4% All 82.0% 78.8% 81.3% 80.8% 81.6% 79.8% Notes: For 1997-98 no repeater data for Isabella, Mopan Technical & Toledo Community College was recorded whereas for 1998-99 no repeater data for Pine Ridge, Belmopan Baptist, Corozal Community College & Toledo Community College was recorded. The above 100% figures indicated migration from other districts to schools in Belize City. Entrance to secondary schools is in the main, dictated by performance in the Belize National Selection Examination (BNSE) which serves as a selection mechanism for the limited secondary school spaces available. The table shows student movement from primary to secondary schools during the 1998-99 and 1998-97 school year. 81.6% of primary school students gained access to secondary schools as compared to 79.8% in 1997-98. For 1998-99 more males than females gained entrance to secondary schools (82.0% males to 81.3% females) while for 1997-98 it was more females than males (80.8% females to 78.8% males). Belize District with 98.3% had the highest Transition Rate for 1998-99 and 100.5% for 1997-98. On the other hand Toledo reported the lowest Transition Rate in 1998-97 with 55.2% and Orange Walk with 62.6% in 1997-98. Female Transition Rate for the Belize District for both years was above 100%. This was mainly due to migration of pupils from other districts especially Orange Walk to Belize City secondary schools. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 29 7.0 RESOURCES 7.1 TOTAL TEACHING FORCE Table 25A: Number of Teachers by District, Level and Gender – 1998-99 Level and Gender Pre-School Primary Secondary All District M F M F M F M F Belize 2 86 83 484 141 181 226 751 Cayo 1 34 138 311 81 68 220 413 Corozal 0 25 104 173 49 37 153 235 Orange Walk 0 16 116 212 41 28 157 256 Stann Creek 0 28 68 156 49 34 117 218 Toledo 0 4 110 109 30 15 140 128 All 3 193 619 1,445 391 363 1,013 2,001 Table 25B: Number of Teachers by District, Level and Gender – 1997-98 Level and Gender Pre-School Primary Secondary All District M F M F M F M F Belize 2 82 80 483 146 173 228 738 Cayo 1 34 133 290 77 68 211 392 Corozal 0 24 110 170 48 36 158 230 Orange Walk 0 19 108 204 40 28 148 251 Stann Creek 1 14 67 152 37 30 105 196 Toledo 0 5 109 109 28 14 137 128 All 4 178 607 1,408 376 349 987 1,935 In 1998-99 there were 3,014 teachers in Pre, Primary and Secondary schools compared to 2,922 in 1997- 98 found in the education system of Belize. This represented a 3.1% increase over the previous year’s figures. During the 1998-99 school year 196 teachers were in pre-school, an increase of 14 teachers or 7.7% over the previous year. Primary schools had the bulk of teachers with 2,064 up by 49 (or a 2.4% increase) for 1998-99. Secondary schools showed an increment in the number of teachers from 725 in 1997-98 to 754 in 1998-99 an increase of 4.0%. For both school years the total teaching force was made up of 66.0% females. In pre and primary schools the predominance of females was apparent and exceeded males by far. On the other hand at the secondary level it was more or less evenly distributed with males slightly outnumbering females. Although the percentage of female teachers has been on the rise, females are not yet proportionally represented as administrators. During the 1998-99 school year there were 130 males to 119 females in government and government-aided primary schools. At the secondary school level 25 males functioned as principals compared to 8 females. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 30 7.2 PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS Table 26A: Number of Pre-School Teachers by District and Management - 1998-99 Management District Community Private All Belize 26 62 88 Cayo 16 19 35 Corozal 13 12 25 Orange Walk 1 15 16 Stann Creek 21 7 28 Toledo 0 4 4 All 77 119 196 Table 26B: Number of Pre-School Teachers by District and Management – 1997-98 Management District Community Private All Belize 26 58 84 Cayo 17 18 35 Corozal 14 10 24 Orange Walk 1 18 19 Stann Creek 8 7 15 Toledo 1 4 5 All 67 115 182 The 1998-99 teachers count indicated an additional 14 teachers in the pre-school teaching force up from 182 in 1997-98 to 196 in 1998-99. This increase can be attributed to a growth in enrolment from 3,313 in 1997-98 to 3,634 in 1998-99. Stann Creek district exhibited a drastic increase of 13 teachers followed by Belize with 4 and Corozal with 1. The number of teachers remained constant for the Cayo district while Orange Walk and Toledo lost 3 and 1 teachers respectively. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 31 7.3 PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS Table 27A: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and District – 1998-99 Qualification Incomplete High Trained….. Training….. First Sch. or Second % District Fully Lev. 1 Lev. 2 Lev. 1 Class Higher Class Other All Trained Belize 356 42 11 34 49 62 7 6 567 70.2 Cayo 187 60 12 30 82 74 4 0 449 55.0 Corozal 164 29 11 17 26 27 1 2 277 69.7 Orange Walk 172 50 7 18 29 49 2 1 328 67.7 Stann Creek 85 20 9 11 22 63 13 1 224 46.9 Toledo 64 21 6 22 44 55 7 0 219 38.8 All 1,028 222 56 132 252 330 34 10 2,064 60.6 % of Total 49.8 10.8 2.7 6.4 12.2 16.0 1.6 0.5 100.0 Table 27B: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and District – 1997-98 Qualification Incomplete High Trained….. Training….. First Sch. or Second % District Fully Lev. 1 Lev. 2 Lev. 1 Class Higher Class Other All Trained Belize 338 36 32 41 45 63 5 3 563 66.4 Cayo 173 26 11 49 73 86 5 0 423 47.0 Corozal 168 21 11 24 23 29 2 2 280 67.5 Orange Walk 166 43 9 30 27 34 1 2 312 67.0 Stann Creek 83 21 15 15 23 45 13 4 219 47.5 Toledo 54 11 9 24 44 71 5 0 218 29.8 All 982 158 87 183 235 328 31 11 2,015 56.6 % of Total 48.7 7.8 4.3 9.1 11.7 16.3 1.5 0.5 100.0 During the 1998-99 school year there was an increase of 49 teachers in the primary school system, 2.4% up from the 1997-98 figures. The figures showed a slight increase of 4 percentage points in the number of trained teachers for 1998-99 over the 1997-98 school year, i.e. 60.6% to 56.6% respectively. For 1998-99 Belize district had the highest number of trained teachers with 70.2% followed by Corozal with 69.7%, Orange Walk with 67.7%, Cayo with 55.0%, Stann Creek with 46.9% and Toledo reporting the lowest number of trained teachers with 38.8%. In 1998-99, 49.8% of the primary school teaching force was fully trained (Level 2 or the former 2+1) with an additional 10.7% having completed the Level 1 programme. For the past four school years the Toledo district has lagged behind the rest of the districts with the lowest number of trained teachers and principals. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 32 Table 28A: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and U/R Location – 1998-99 Qualification 1998-99 1997-98 Incomplete High Trained….. Training….. First Sch. or Second % % Region Fully Lev. 1 Lev. 2 Lev. 1 Class Higher Class Other All Trained All Trained Urban 608 102 20 42 87 123 13 6 1,001 70.9 975 66.1 *Rural of which 420 120 36 90 165 207 21 4 1,063 50.8 1,040 47.7 No allowance 305 81 22 49 92 92 8 4 653 59.1 634 54.9 III (least remote) 26 5 3 9 5 23 4 0 75 41.3 72 33.3 II 38 11 3 12 27 34 3 0 128 38.3 127 41.7 I (most remote) 51 23 8 20 41 58 6 0 207 35.7 207 34.3 All 1,028 222 56 132 252 330 34 10 2,064 60.6 2,015 56.6 % of total 49.8 4.9 2.7 6.4 12.2 16.0 1.6 0.5 100.0 100.0 Table 28B: Number of G & GA Primary School Teachers by Level of Training and U/R Location – 1997-98 Qualification 1997-98 1996-97 Incomplete High Trained ….. Training….. First Sch. Or Second % % Region Fully Lev. 1 Lev. 2 Lev. 1 Class Higher Class Other All Trained All Trained Urban 581 63 35 83 79 119 8 7 975 66.1 963 65.9 *Rural of which 401 95 52 100 156 209 23 4 1,040 47.7 1,031 46.8 No allowance 285 63 31 59 89 94 10 3 634 54.9 627 54.1 III (least remote) 22 2 8 7 9 21 3 0 72 33.3 70 37.1 II 38 15 9 15 20 27 3 0 127 41.7 128 39.8 I (most remote) 56 15 4 19 38 67 7 1 207 34.3 206 32.0 All 982 158 87 183 235 328 31 11 2,015 56.6 1,994 56.0 % of total 48.7 7.9 4.3 9.1 11.7 16.3 1.5 0.5 100.0 100.0 * There are 3 categories of rural schools where teachers are given a rural allowance as incentive to work in the rural areas. Rural allowance I, II and III (with Rural Allowance I being the most remote area and Rural Allowance III the least remote. The 1998-99 teachers’ figures showed a slight increase in the number of fully trained teachers. Absolute figures for 1998-99 and 1997-98 showed 1,028 and 982 fully trained teachers respectively or an increase of 46 teachers (4.7%). This increase has been reflected in rural growth of 19 fully trained teachers whereas urban demonstrated an increase of 27 teachers for 1998-99. Overall fully trained teachers stood at 50.0%. For 1998-99 among urban teachers 70.9% were trained compared to 50.8% of all rural teachers. Within the rural sector, the decline across the different ‘allowance areas’ was not uniform. Schools in the Category III (least remote) were the least trained with 33.3% in 1998-99 while for 1997-98 Category I schools (most remote) had the lowest number of trained teachers with 32.0%. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 33 Table 29A: Number of Primary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification – 1998-99 Males District and Qualification Orange Stann Management Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All FT* NFT** FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT Government 1 4 4 17 5 6 20 20 0 0 2 12 32 59 Roman Catholic 22 16 45 47 52 26 39 21 18 25 19 72 195 207 Anglican 6 4 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 10 11 Methodist 6 4 0 0 3 2 0 0 3 2 2 2 14 10 Seventh Day Adventist 1 1 1 3 3 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 7 7 Nazarene 2 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 Assemblies of God 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 1 7 0 0 3 11 Other 8 8 3 6 0 0 4 7 4 4 0 0 19 25 All 46 37 58 80 66 38 66 50 26 42 23 87 285 334 Females Government 12 14 31 34 18 7 29 41 0 0 2 6 92 102 Roman Catholic 115 82 74 106 59 40 65 48 33 49 30 53 376 378 Anglican 74 23 7 10 3 5 5 8 9 11 0 2 98 59 Methodist 62 24 0 0 10 5 0 0 13 9 9 7 94 45 Seventh Day Adventist 4 4 3 3 5 7 3 2 2 6 0 0 17 22 Nazarene 1 1 8 22 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 30 Assemblies of God 5 4 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 13 Other 37 22 6 4 0 0 4 7 2 20 0 0 49 53 All 310 174 129 182 98 75 106 106 59 97 41 68 743 702 Males & Females Government 13 18 35 51 23 13 49 61 0 0 4 18 124 161 Roman Catholic 137 98 119 153 111 66 104 69 51 74 49 125 571 585 Anglican 80 27 10 12 3 5 6 9 9 14 0 3 108 70 Methodist 68 28 0 0 13 7 0 0 16 11 11 9 108 55 Seventh Day Adventist 5 5 4 6 8 8 5 3 2 7 0 0 24 29 Nazarene 3 1 9 25 5 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 34 Assemblies of God 5 4 1 5 1 6 0 0 1 9 0 0 8 24 Other 45 30 9 10 0 0 8 14 6 24 0 0 68 78 All 356 211 187 262 164 113 172 156 85 139 64 155 1,028 1,036 * FT - Fully Trained teachers includes those who have completed the Level 2 programme and those who did the 2+1 programme offered previously. ** NFT – Not Fully Trained teachers includes those who have completed the Level 1 programme and those who have no pedagogical training, e.g., high school diploma, sixth form etc. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 34 Table 29B: Number of Primary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification – 1997-98 Males District and Qualification Orange Stann Management Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All FT* NFT** FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT FT NFT Government 3 3 5 13 6 5 15 24 0 0 4 8 33 53 Roman Catholic 21 14 47 43 56 27 34 19 16 26 15 77 189 206 Anglican 5 5 1 4 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 7 13 Methodist 6 5 0 0 3 3 0 0 2 2 1 4 12 14 Seventh Day Adventist 0 3 1 3 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 8 Nazarene 1 1 2 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 Assemblies of God 0 0 1 2 1 3 0 0 2 6 0 0 4 11 Other 6 7 1 7 0 0 5 8 4 4 0 0 16 26 All 42 38 58 75 69 41 56 52 24 43 20 89 269 338 Females Government 12 13 32 29 17 7 28 34 0 0 1 9 90 92 Roman Catholic 117 79 61 104 62 36 70 42 36 46 24 56 370 363 Anglican 69 25 7 10 4 4 5 8 8 11 1 2 94 60 Methodist 57 28 0 0 9 6 0 0 10 12 8 8 84 54 Seventh Day Adventist 4 3 3 3 4 8 4 2 3 4 0 0 18 20 Nazarene 1 2 9 18 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 26 Assemblies of God 5 4 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 12 Other 31 33 3 8 0 0 3 8 2 19 0 0 39 68 All 296 187 115 175 99 71 110 94 59 93 34 75 713 695 Males & Females Government 15 16 37 42 23 12 43 58 0 0 5 17 123 145 Roman Catholic 138 93 108 147 118 63 104 61 52 72 39 133 559 569 Anglican 74 30 8 14 4 4 6 9 8 14 1 2 101 73 Methodist 63 33 0 0 12 9 0 0 12 14 9 12 96 68 Seventh Day Adventist 4 6 4 6 6 8 5 2 3 6 0 0 22 28 Nazarene 2 3 11 21 4 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 33 Assemblies of God 5 4 1 5 1 7 0 0 2 7 0 0 9 23 Other 37 40 4 15 0 0 8 16 6 23 0 0 55 94 All 338 225 173 250 168 112 166 146 83 136 54 164 982 1,033 * FT - Fully Trained teachers includes those who have completed the Level 2 programme and those who did the 2+1 programme offered previously. ** NFT – Not Fully Trained teachers includes those who have completed the Level 1 programme and those who have no pedagogical training, e.g., high school diploma, sixth form etc. For 1998-99 school year teachers’ figures indicated that in relation to the total number of teachers per district the Belize district had the highest percent of fully trained teachers with 62.8% followed by Corozal with 59.2%, Orange Walk with 52.4%, Cayo with 41.6%, Stann Creek with 37.9% and lastly Toledo with 29.2%. Whereas for the 1997-98 school year Belize and Corozal had the highest percent of fully trained teachers with 60.0% a piece followed by Orange Walk with 53.2%, Cayo with 40.9%, Stann Creek with 37.9% and Toledo with 24.8%. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 35 7.4 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS Table 30A: Number of Secondary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification – 1998-99 Males Government Gov’t-Comm Gov’t-Denom Specially-Assisted Private All District GT* Gr* T* O* GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O All Belize 12 2 3 9 2 7 4 7 72 22 7 33 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 86 32 14 49 181 Cayo 9 3 3 12 0 0 0 0 15 12 2 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 24 15 5 24 68 Corozal 1 1 0 3 8 3 2 10 1 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 7 3 17 37 Orange Walk 1 3 1 7 0 0 0 0 1 8 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 3 12 28 Stann Creek 2 1 0 5 0 12 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 1 0 11 14 1 8 34 Toledo 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 9 15 All 25 10 7 36 13 23 8 29 89 45 12 53 0 0 0 0 9 2 1 1 136 80 28 119 363 Females Belize 8 4 2 17 2 7 2 5 27 26 8 27 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 38 41 13 49 141 Cayo 11 3 5 12 0 0 0 0 16 16 9 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 27 21 15 18 81 Corozal 2 1 2 11 7 2 4 8 2 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 6 8 24 49 Orange Walk 6 5 3 14 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 11 5 18 41 Stann Creek 5 5 1 7 3 11 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 10 18 5 16 49 Toledo 0 0 0 0 12 4 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 4 0 14 30 All 32 18 13 61 24 24 9 34 46 51 21 42 0 0 0 0 3 8 3 2 105 101 46 139 391 Males & Females Belize 20 6 5 26 4 14 6 12 99 48 15 60 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 124 73 27 98 322 Cayo 20 6 8 24 0 0 0 0 31 28 11 17 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 51 36 20 42 149 Corozal 3 2 2 14 15 5 6 18 3 6 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 13 11 41 86 Orange Walk 7 8 4 21 0 0 0 0 2 14 4 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 22 8 30 69 Stann Creek 7 6 1 12 3 23 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3 2 2 21 32 6 24 83 Toledo 0 0 0 0 15 5 2 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 5 2 23 45 All 57 28 20 97 37 47 17 63 135 96 33 95 0 0 0 0 12 10 4 3 241 181 74 258 754 * GT – University Graduate with Professional Training, Gr - University Graduate, T – Professional Teacher Training, O – Other (High School or Sixth Form Graduate) Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 36 Table 30B: Number of Secondary School Teachers by Gender, District, Management and Qualification – 1997-98 Males Government Gov’t-Comm Gov’t-Denom Specially-Assisted Private All District GT* Gr* T* O* GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O GT Gr T O All Belize 9 3 1 16 4 5 1 6 31 29 8 20 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 1 47 41 14 44 146 Cayo 12 3 5 11 0 0 0 0 3 7 4 5 3 1 1 2 10 10 0 0 28 21 10 18 77 Corozal 2 1 2 11 6 3 3 8 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 7 25 48 Orange Walk 5 5 3 15 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 5 19 40 Stann Creek 4 3 1 2 4 9 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 1 2 1 1 9 14 4 10 37 Toledo 0 0 0 0 10 4 1 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4 1 13 28 All 32 15 12 55 24 21 7 34 38 42 16 35 4 2 4 3 13 15 2 2 111 95 41 129 376 Females Belize 13 1 3 9 3 3 6 5 69 16 11 28 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 88 22 20 43 173 Cayo 8 2 4 11 0 0 0 0 6 3 1 9 2 2 1 4 7 6 0 2 23 13 6 26 68 Corozal 1 1 0 3 8 3 3 10 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 7 4 15 36 Orange Walk 2 2 1 8 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 3 14 28 Stann Creek 1 0 0 2 1 12 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 4 8 12 1 9 30 Toledo 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 8 14 All 25 6 8 33 14 20 11 26 77 28 15 45 5 3 1 4 13 7 1 7 134 64 36 115 349 Males & Females Belize 22 4 4 25 7 8 7 11 100 45 19 48 4 2 3 1 2 4 1 2 135 63 34 87 319 Cayo 20 5 9 22 0 0 0 0 9 10 5 14 5 3 2 6 17 16 0 2 51 34 16 44 145 Corozal 3 2 2 14 14 6 6 18 3 5 3 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 13 11 40 84 Orange Walk 7 7 4 23 0 0 0 0 3 10 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 17 8 33 68 Stann Creek 5 3 1 4 5 21 2 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 2 5 17 26 5 19 67 Toledo 0 0 0 0 12 6 3 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 6 3 21 42 All 57 21 20 88 38 41 18 60 115 70 31 80 9 5 5 7 26 22 3 9 245 159 77 244 725 * GT – University Graduate with Professional Training, Gr - University Graduate, T – Professional Teacher Training, O – Other (High School or Sixth Form Graduate) The figures for 1998-99 and 1997-98 school year indicated that 32.0% and 33.8% secondary school teachers had a university degree along with professional teacher training respectively. Proportionally, Government-Aided Denominational schools had the highest number of trained graduates with 56.0% followed by Government schools with 23.7%, Government-Aided Community 15.4% and Private 5.0% for 1998-99. In relation to the total number of teachers by district for 1998-99 the Belize District had the highest Graduate Trained Teachers with 38.5% followed by Cayo 34.2%, Toledo 33.3%, Stann Creek 25.3%, Corozal 24.4% and Orange Walk 13.0%. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 37 7.5 PUPIL TEACHER RATIO Table 31A: Pupil:Teacher Ratio in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location – 1998-99 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government - 23.3 27.9 25.7 - 23.4 28.2 20.0 - - - 20.6 28.1 22.5 Roman Catholic 28.9 26.1 29.2 26.4 26.0 27.9 29.2 26.5 24.2 29.7 29.9 26.3 28.3 27.0 Anglican 24.9 18.0 32.0 29.3 23.0 - 22.1 - 27.5 30.9 - 20.0 25.2 26.1 Methodist 23.9 32.7 - - 24.6 21.4 - - 30.8 23.3 25.1 17.4 24.8 24.4 Seventh Day Advent. 29.0 10.0 25.0 - 23.3 15.0 25.3 - 23.4 - - - 25.3 14.3 Nazarene 23.8 - 31.9 27.6 24.6 20.8 - - - - - - 29.5 25.1 Assemblies of God 22.4 - - 25.3 - 17.1 - - - 31.6 - - 22.4 25.6 Other 26.6 20.7 - 27.6 - - 31.3 19.2 - 27.9 - - 27.2 24.8 All 26.6 24.3 29.2 26.5 25.2 25.5 28.1 23.9 25.4 28.9 28.6 25.1 27.3 25.7 Table 31B: Pupil: Teacher Ratio in G & GA Primary Schools by Management, District and U/R Location – 1997-98 District and Sector Orange Stann Belize Cayo Corozal Walk Creek Toledo All Management U R U R U R U R U R U R U R Government - 22.7 30.5 28.2 - 23.5 28.2 20.0 - - - 21.0 29.3 23.0 Roman Catholic 28.7 26.0 30.5 26.5 26.7 24.9 30.3 27.7 26.5 27.0 31.4 25.9 29.1 26.2 Anglican 25.2 17.8 31.4 24.9 22.3 - 20.1 - 30.0 29.1 - 17.3 25.2 24.0 Methodist 25.1 23.9 - - 24.6 21.1 - - 31.8 25.4 22.4 15.3 25.5 22.1 Seventh Day Advent. 28.5 11.5 25.0 - 18.2 21.6 29.9 - 23.4 - - - 25.4 19.7 Nazarene 20.2 - 29.8 27.9 22.4 20.7 - - - - - - 26.9 25.2 Assemblies of God 23.9 - - 26.3 - 12.3 - - - 34.0 - - 23.9 24.4 Other 24.4 24.4 - 27.2 - - 25.6 16.1 - 32.6 - - 24.4 31.8 All 26.6 23.8 30.2 26.8 24.9 23.7 28.1 24.8 27.2 27.7 29.0 24.6 27.6 25.2 Although the official PTR is 35.0:1 the national average PTR for 1998-99 was 26.5 and 26.4 in 1997-98 indicating that the majority of class sizes are small. Urban/Rural PTR has shown no significant variation over the last two school years. Urban/Rural PTR for 1998-99 and 1997-98 remained the same (urban 27.3:1/rural 25.7:1 for 1998-99 and urban 27.6:1/rural 25.2:1 for 1997-98). The Cayo and Stann Creek Districts had PTRs above the national average for the last two years. For 1998-99 Roman Catholic schools had the highest PTR with 28.3:1 and schools under the Assemblies of God management had a low of 22.4:1. In the rural areas Roman Catholic also had the highest PTR with 27.0:1 and Seventh Day Adventist schools had a low of 14.3:1. The Pupil to Fully Trained Teacher Ratio was 53.1:1 in 1998-99 and 54.1:1 in 1997-98. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 38 7.6 PROGNOSTICATED ENROLMENT Table 32: Prognosticated Primary School Enrolment until year 2005 Infant ….. Standard……………… Year I* II I II III IV V VI All 1996-1997 9,401 7,336 7,126 6,775 6,388 5,837 5,385 4,862 53,110 1997-1998 9,280 7,048 7,215 6,866 6,537 6,003 5,257 4,912 53,118 1998-1999 9,568 7,336 7,277 7,065 6,620 6,314 5,534 4,902 54,616 1999-2000 9,865 7,636 7,340 7,270 6,704 6,641 5,826 4,892 56,173 2000-2001 10,171 7,948 7,403 7,480 6,789 6,985 6,133 4,882 57,791 2001-2002 10,487 8,273 7,466 7,697 6,875 7,347 6,456 4,872 59,473 2002-2003 10,812 8,611 7,530 7,920 6,963 7,728 6,796 4,862 61,222 2003-2004 11,148 8,962 7,595 8,150 7,051 8,128 7,154 4,852 63,041 2004-2005 11,494 9,329 7,660 8,386 7,141 8,549 7,531 4,842 64,932 * Infant I enrolment figures includes ‘Beginners’, an ‘unofficial’ preparatory grade for 5 year olds. Table 33: Prognosticated Secondary School Enrolment until year 2005 Year Form I* Form II Form III Form IV All 1996-1997 3,813 2,889 2,441 1,769 10,912 1997-1998 3,837 2,991 2,453 1,979 11,260 1998-1999 3,897 3,060 2,707 2,056 11,720 1999-2000 3,958 3,131 2,987 2,136 12,212 2000-2001 4,020 3,203 3,297 2,219 12,738 2001-2002 4,083 3,277 3,638 2,305 13,303 2002-2003 4,147 3,352 4,015 2,395 13,909 2003-2004 4,211 3,430 4,430 2,488 14,560 2004-2005 4,277 3,509 4,889 2,585 15,260 *Form 1 includes pupils in the preparatory grade. The main reason for the inclusion of primary and secondary school enrolment projections is for planning purposes. Analysis is made of enrolment trends compared to demographic growth and other related trends until the year 2005. Projection figures for primary schools until year 2005 shows a growth rate of 3.1% for the Infant I intake. On the other hand, total enrolment projections stood at an average of 3.0%. The secondary school projected intake rate was much lower than that of primary school and it stood at an average of 1.6%. This can be attributed to the limited spaces available at all secondary schools of Belize. It is estimated that this low intake rate would remain the same unless measures are taken to increase access. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 39 8.0 FINANCE Education Expenditure as a Proportion of Total GoB Expenditure - 1998-99 Chart 2: Other 17.0% M in of Finance 40.2% Min of Education 22.1% Min of National Security Min of Health & Sports 11.8% 9.0% Education expenditure as a proportion of total Government of Belize expenditure remained the same for the past three financial years at about 22.0%. Comparing this figure with the other government ministries, education continues to rank as a high priority investment area for the Government of Belize. Distribution of Education Recurrent Expenditure by Level FY - 1998-99 Chart 3: Special Ed Secondary 0.7% 24.6% Other 6.9% T ert iary 8.4% P reschool 0.6% P rimary 58.8% From the total Recurrent Education Expenditure of $67,456,915 in 1998-99, 58.8% went to primary education. Secondary education received the second highest allocation, which consisted of 24.6%. A major proportion of the recurrent expenditure (approximately 92.0%) was earmarked for teachers’ salaries. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 40 D is tr ib u t io n o f E d u c a t io n C a p ita l I I B u d g e t b y L e v e l F Y - 1 9 9 8 -9 9 C h a r t 4 : O th e r T e rt ia ry 5 .0 % 4 8 .4 % P rim a ry S e c o n d a ry 4 6 .6 % 0 .0 % Capital II is the budget used for local capital financing including new investment in stock of school facilities as well as repairs and maintenance of existing stock. It also includes counterpart funds for externally funded projects. Government allocation of $2,415,000 of Capital II budget to the Ministry of Education showed that 46.6% went to primary education in 1998-99 as compared to 49.3% in 1997-98. A significant proportion of this budget was allocated to tertiary education 48.4% in 1998-99, with 5.0% going to other investment. U n it C o s t o f E d u c a t io n R e c u r r e n t B u d g e t b y L e v e l F Y - 1 9 9 8 -9 9 C h a r t 5 : S e c o n d a ry $ 1 ,4 3 1 P r im a ry $ 7 2 6 $ 1 0 9 P re s c h o o l $ 2 ,1 7 7 T e r t ia ry A comparison of unit cost per level of education showed that for the year 1998-99 the cost to support a student attending tertiary institutions was three times more than the cost to support a pupil in primary school ($2,177 to $726) and one and half more than supporting a student in secondary school ($2,177 to $1,431). It cost two times more to support a student in secondary school than one in primary school ($1,431 to $726). Pre-school education showed the least allocation per child. Comparing costs between tertiary and pre- school reveals that it costs twenty times more to support a student at the tertiary level than a child in pre- school education ($2,177 to $109). Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 41 9.0 EXAMINATION RESULTS Table 34A: Primary School Performance in the BNSE by District - 1999 Top Quarter Second Third Bottom All Pupils Quarter Quarter Quarter No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 471 28 307 18 349 21 536 32 1,663 100 Belize City 398 33 224 18 243 20 354 29 1,219 100 San Pedro 26 36 18 25 17 23 12 16 73 100 Belize Rural 47 13 65 18 89 24 170 46 371 100 Cayo 286 26 303 27 310 28 207 19 1,106 100 Belmopan 49 25 54 28 47 24 43 22 193 100 Benque Viejo 60 54 24 21 19 17 9 8 112 100 San Ignacio 94 31 87 28 88 29 38 12 307 100 Cayo Rural 83 17 138 28 156 32 117 24 494 100 Corozal 197 30 190 29 167 25 103 16 657 100 Corozal Town 69 39 61 34 31 18 16 9 177 100 Corozal Rural 128 27 129 27 136 28 87 18 480 100 Orange Walk 182 26 208 30 174 25 140 20 704 100 Orange Walk Town 121 33 118 32 78 21 47 13 364 100 Orange Walk Rural 61 18 90 26 96 28 93 27 340 100 Stann Creek 91 16 162 29 195 34 119 21 567 100 Dangriga 39 18 62 29 75 35 40 19 216 100 Stann Creek Rural 52 15 100 28 120 34 79 23 351 100 Toledo 80 16 114 22 133 26 185 36 512 100 Punta Gorda 30 21 30 21 42 29 43 30 145 100 Toledo Rural 50 14 84 23 91 25 142 39 367 100 Total 1,307 25 1,284 25 1,328 25 1,290 25 5,209 100 Urban 886 32 678 24 640 23 602 21 2,806 100 Rural 421 18 606 25 688 29 688 29 2,403 100 Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 42 Table 34B: Primary School Performance in the BNSE by District - 1998 Top Quarter Second Third Bottom All Pupils Quarter Quarter Quarter No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Belize 448 27 324 20 361 22 527 32 1,660 100 Belize City 383 32 228 19 226 19 373 31 1,210 100 San Pedro 18 29 19 30 17 27 9 14 63 100 Belize Rural 47 12 77 20 118 30 145 37 387 100 Cayo 304 28 290 26 267 24 234 21 1,095 100 Belmopan 51 22 67 30 49 22 60 26 227 100 Benque Viejo 45 46 28 29 17 18 7 7 97 100 San Ignacio 121 42 83 29 57 20 30 10 291 100 Cayo Rural 87 18 112 23 144 30 137 29 480 100 Corozal 220 32 202 30 160 23 102 15 684 100 Corozal Town 95 49 57 29 30 15 13 7 195 100 Corozal Rural 125 26 145 30 130 27 89 18 489 100 Orange Walk 156 21 233 31 191 26 169 23 749 100 Orange Walk Town 108 27 136 34 86 21 72 18 402 100 Orange Walk Rural 48 14 97 28 105 30 97 28 347 100 Stann Creek 80 14 155 28 184 33 136 25 555 100 Dangriga 34 13 69 27 84 33 69 27 256 100 Stann Creek Rural 46 15 86 29 100 33 67 22 299 100 Toledo 75 17 110 24 114 25 150 33 449 100 Punta Gorda 46 34 27 20 31 23 32 24 136 100 Toledo Rural 29 9 83 27 83 27 118 38 313 100 Total 1,283 25 1,314 25 1,277 25 1,318 25 5,192 100 Urban 901 31 714 25 597 21 665 23 2,877 100 Rural 382 17 600 26 680 29 653 28 2,315 100 The Belize National Selection Examination (BNSE), a terminal primary school examination serves as the basis for selecting students for secondary schools. BNSE results are reported as percentiles and are norm- referenced achievement examination. In the 1998-99 school year 5,209 pupils took the BNSE as compared to 5,192 in 1997-98. Some 53.9% of those who sat BNSE came from schools in the urban areas in 1998-99. Statistics shows that 32% of urban students are more likely to be placed in the top quarter with 18% coming from the rural areas. This represented 1.8 times more urban students than rural. Children ranked in the two top quarters are more likely to gain entrance into secondary school. The figures suggest that more children in the Corozal, Orange Walk and Cayo districts are more likely to be accepted to secondary schools. Toledo and Belize district had the highest number of pupils concentrated in the bottom quarter. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 43 10.0 EDUCATIONAL INDICATORS Fourteen key national educational indicators are maintained by the Ministry of Education and Sports Planning Unit as part of the National Social Indicators headed by the Central Statistical Office of the Ministry of Finance. The following are the fourteen indicators for the 1998-99 school year together with the definition and the formula used to calculate them. 10.1 Primary School Completion Rate Definition: Percentage of children entering Infant I who successfully complete primary school in due course. Formula: Number of children entering Infant I who complete in due course/Number of children entering Infant I * 100. Table 35: Primary School Completion Rate – 1998-99 1998-99 Rate Total 54.0 The percentage of children who completed primary school in due course was 54.0%. This figure suggested that approximately 46% of the primary school enrolled in government and government aided schools are taking more than eight years to complete primary school (repeating several times) or are dropping out of the education system completely. 10.2 Primary School Gross Enrolment Definition: Number of children enrolled in Infant I – Standard VI, in relation to the total number of children aged 5-12. Formula: Number of children enrolled in Infant I – Standard VI/Number of 5-12 year olds*100. Table 36: Primary School Gross Enrolment – 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 28,104 28,820 97.5 Female 26,512 26,975 98.3 Total 54,616 55,795 97.9 Students included those in pre-schools attached to primary schools and beginners classes. Private schools are not included. Primary school gross enrolment rate close to 100% was an indication of students less than 5 years (2.7%) and more than 12 years (9.8%) who were enrolled in school. The high percentage of overage students can be attributed to: students who score low in BNSE and are unable to gain access to a secondary school and remain in primary school to repeat the grade and attempt the examination again and also to stay within the legal compulsory school age. 10.3 Primary School Net Enrolment Definition: Number of children aged 5-12 enrolled in Infant I – Standard VI, in relation to the total number of children aged 5-12. Formula: Number of 5-12 year olds enrolled in Infant I – Standard VI/Number of 5-12 year old * 100. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 44 Table 37: Primary School Net Enrolment - 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 24,215 28,820 84.0 Female 23,446 26,975 86.9 Total 47,661 55,795 85.4 Students included those aged 5-12 in pre-schools attached to primary schools and beginners classes. Private schools were not included. The data suggested that over 14% of the country’s 5- 12 year olds were not enrolled in primary school. Possible reasons for this high percentage is: a high number of 11 and 12 year olds are attending secondary school; a significant number of 5 year olds in September 1998 had not gained entry to primary school because of lack of places in the Infant classes; parents indifference to the compulsory education law; increasing primary school costs, including registration and other fees, cost of textbooks; opportunity cost to families and travel distance to school. 10.4 Net Pre-School Enrolment Definition: Number of children aged 3-4 enrolled in pre-school, in relation to the total number of children aged 3-4. Formula: Number of 3-4 year olds enrolled in pre-school/Number of 3-4 year olds * 100. Table 38: Net Pre-School Enrolment - 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 1,818 6,330 28.7 Female 1,816 6,335 28.7 Total 3,634 12,665 28.7 Data related to the summer school initiatives and non-registered pre-schools are not included. The table indicated low coverage of the pre-school population age. For the past five years the net pre-school enrolment has remained below 30%. The primary cause of this low coverage can be attributed to low parents demand which might be due to an unawareness of the importance of pre-school education and the limited number of pre-schools in districts such as Orange Walk. For the 1998-99 school year the male and female representation were equal. 10.5 Percentage of Children Aged 12 in the Educational System Definition: Percentage of children aged 12 in the educational system. Formula: Number of 12 year olds enrolled in the educational system/Number of 12 year olds * 100. Table 39: Percentage of Children Aged 12 in the Educational System –1998-99 1998-99 Students Population Rate Total 5,515 5,963 92.5 92.5% of the 12 year old children were participating in primary or secondary school education. The remaining 7.5% could include students who have concluded primary school but were unable to gain access to secondary education due to the high costs of the same; opportunity cost to families; distance to the closest secondary school and the disparity between the growing number Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 45 of students necessitating a secondary education and the number of available secondary school places. 10.6 Percentage of Children Aged 14 in the Educational System Definition: Percentage of children aged 14 in the educational system. Formula: Number of 14 year olds enrolled in the educational system/Number of 14 year olds * 100. Table 40: Percentage of Children Aged 14 in the Educational System – 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 1,998 2,797 71.4 Female 1,823 2,916 62.5 Total 3,821 5,713 66.9 According to the Education Act 1991 (Amendment 1996) education is compulsory for children aged 5-14. However, about 33.1% of 14 year olds were not enrolled in school. Greater proportions of the 14 year old males than females were enrolled. Casual factors for the significant percentage of 14 year olds not in the education system are: the majority of children complete the primary school program at age 13 many of whom do not gain access to secondary schools; incidences of pregnancy before age 15 and other social/cultural practices pertaining to girls. 10.7 Secondary School Net Enrolment Definition: Number of children aged 13-17 enrolled in Form I – Form IV, in relation to the total number of children aged 13-17. Formula: Number of 13-17 year olds enrolled in Form I – Form IV/Number of 13-17 year olds * 100. Table 41: Secondary School Net Enrolment – 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 4,687 15,180 30.9 Female 5,403 15,280 35.4 Total 10,090 30,460 33.1 This table indicated that the 13-17 cohort of secondary school population represented 86.1% of the total secondary school population and 33.1% of the entire 13-17 year olds country population. In addition, over 4% of the 13-17 year old female than male population were gaining entry requirements to secondary school. The total low participation rate is attributed to the lack of available places at the secondary level to satisfy the increasing demand. 10.8 Secondary School Gross Enrolment Definition: Number of children enrolled in Form I – Form IV, in relation to the total number of children aged 13-17. Formula: Number of children enrolled in Form I – Form IV/Number of 13-17 year olds * 100. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 46 Table 42: Secondary School Gross Enrolment – 1998-99 Gender Students Population Rate Male 5,532 15,180 36.4 Female 6,188 15,280 40.5 Total 11,720 30,460 38.5 Total enrolment in secondary school represented 38.5% of the entire 13-17 year olds country population. Since there is no official entry age to secondary school a significant number of children enter earlier than 13 years of age and remain longer than 17 years of age. Similarly to the secondary school net enrolment, the low participation rate was in large part due to the number of available places at the secondary school level. The difference between net enrolment (33.1%) and gross enrolment (38.5%) was due to the number of underage and overage children in the secondary school system. 10.9 Average Primary School Repetition Rate Definition: Percentage of children in primary school repeating a year. Formula: Number of children repeating in primary school/Number of children in primary school * 100. Table 43: Average Primary School Repetition Rate – 1997-98 Gender Repeaters Students Rate Male 3,143 27,365 11.5 Female 2,349 25,753 9.1 Total 5,492 53,118 10.3 Overall primary school repetition rate stood at 10.3%. The data indicated a greater proportion of male repeaters (11.5%) compared to female repeaters (9.1%). In addition, Infant I exhibited the highest percentage of repetition (14%). Toledo recorded the highest repetition rate with 14.5%, followed by Stann Creek with 12.0%, Orange Walk (11.5%), Corozal (10.8%), Cayo (9.0%) and Belize (8.3%). Currently schools determine their own promotion policies based on their perception of successful completion of prescribed outcomes thus promotion practices and expected outcomes vary from school to school. 10.10 Average Primary School Dropout Rate Definition: Percentage of children who dropped out of primary school. Formula: Number of children dropped out of primary school/Number of children in primary school * 100. Table 44: Average Primary School Dropout Rate – 1997-98 Gender Dropouts Students Rate Male 340 27,365 1.2 Female 256 25,753 1.0 Total 596 53,118 1.1 The figures suggested a low average primary school dropout rate (1.1%). According to the records dropout rates ranged from 2.3% in the Toledo District to 0.5% in the Belize District. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 47 These figures do not present a fair picture of the dropout situation in primary schools because of the following reasons: poor record keeping in primary school; lack of data for private schools and difficulty in determining if a student actually dropped out or merely transferred to another school. 10.11 Average Secondary School Repetition Rate Definition: Percentage of children in secondary school repeating a year. Formula: Number of children repeating in secondary school/Number of children in secondary school * 100. Table 45: Average Secondary School Repetition Rate – 1997-98 Gender Repeaters Students Rate Male 478 5,288 9.0 Female 491 5,972 8.2 Total 969 11,260 8.6 Total repetition rate for the 1997-98 school year stood t 8.6%, about one percentage point less than last year. These figures indicated a higher incidence of repetition for males (9.0%) than females (8.2%) thus suggesting that more females are acquiring the necessary competencies established by each school for promotion. Orange Walk District exhibited a higher percentage of repetition followed by Belize. Form III had the highest incidence of repetition (10.2%) followed closely by Form II (10.0%). 10.12 Average Secondary School Dropout Rate Definition: Percentage of children who dropped out of secondary school. Formula: Number of children dropped out of secondary schools/Number of children in secondary school * 100. Table 46: Average Secondary School Dropout Rate – 1997-98 Gender Dropouts Students Rate Male 563 5,288 10.6 Female 456 5,972 7.6 Total 1,019 11,260 9.0 Total dropout rate at the secondary school level was 9.0%. Evidently, males’ dropout rate (10.6%) was higher than females (7.6%). Cayo District demonstrated a high dropout rate with 11.4% followed by Belize with 10.0%. In terms of the dropout by grade, Preparatory led the way with 19.2% dramatically declining to 4.9% in Form IV. Given the high male repetition rate, it is only expected that repeated repetitions could result in eventual dropout. Moreover, social pressures lure males from academic type pursuits while economic pressures result in high opportunity cost for male students. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 48 10.13 Percentage of Trained Teachers in Primary School Definition: Percentage of primary school teachers that have received formal training. Formula: Number of trained teachers in primary school/Number of teacher in primary school * 100. Table 47: Percentage of Trained Teachers in Primary Schools – 1998-99 Fully Trained District Teachers Teachers Rate Corozal 164 277 59.2 Orange Walk 172 328 52.4 Belize 356 567 62.8 Cayo 187 449 41.6 Stann Creek 85 224 37.9 Toledo 64 219 29.2 Total 1,028 2,064 49.8 Data does not include private schools. Fully trained teachers represented 49.8% of the total primary school teaching population. Trained teachers ranged from 29.2% in the Toledo District to 62.8% in the Belize District. Toledo, Stann Creek and Cayo showed the lowest percentage of trained teachers with 29.2%, 37.9% and 41.6% respectively. Possible reasons are: teachers in these districts do not meet entry requirements for the Belize Teachers Training College; until recently teacher training was a two-year program delivered in Belize City thus both the financial and social cost of relocation was a prohibiting factor for most teachers. 10.14 Primary School Pupil/Teacher Ratio Definition: The number of pupils enrolled in primary school, expressed as a percentage of the total number of teachers in primary school. Formula: Number of pupils enrolled in primary school/Number of teachers in primary school. Table 48: Primary School Pupil/Teacher Ratio – 1998-99 District Students Teachers Rate Corozal 7,046 277 25.4 Orange Walk 8,485 328 25.9 Belize 14,815 567 26.1 Cayo 12,461 449 27.8 Stann Creek 6,173 224 27.6 Toledo 5,636 219 25.7 Total 54,616 2,064 26.5 Data does not include private schools. The national Pupil/Teacher Ratio is a low 26.5% indicating that the majority of primary school class sizes are relatively small, especially in the rural areas. Not much variation was evident among districts. In order to maximize the use of teaching resources and to have a more efficient teacher deployment schedule it seems possible to bring schools with small classes together. Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 49 The Way Forward During the life span of the Belize Primary Education Development Project (BPEDP) awareness was created among policy makers about the importance of data for strategic planning and informed decision making. Since 1992 basic data on enrolment, teachers, finance and school facilities has become an integral part of the Education Management Information System (EMIS). In order to deliver quality educational services to the Belizean society the Ministry of Education and Sports is embarking on an ambitious project to readily access educational data from all the district education centres in Belize which should impact in decision making. Having received Cabinet’s consent to reorganise and streamline the educational services, the MoES is well on its way in establishing proper working and reporting relationship and clearer lines of accountability. In addition, the necessary type of information for each level of decision making is being defined both regionally and nationally. Concomitant to this the appropriate technology (hardware and software) is being installed in Belmopan and Belize City. It is expected that this massive investment in information technology infrastructure and proper training of ministry personnel in data based decision making should impact positively in delivering the quality service so much needed by all our stakeholders. The Planning Unit would like to thank each and everyone who helped in making the publication of this Digest a success. Special recognition goes to all the principals, teachers and school managers who took time out from their busy schedule to fill out our annual data collection instruments. Once again thanks to the Planning Unit staff (Juan, Marcia and Sonia) for a job well done. _____________________________ Mr. K. Mustafa Touré Manager Planning Projects and Performance Measurement Services Ministry of Education and Sports Belize Education Statistical Digest: 1998-99 50