By Zoila Palma: The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools in Belize to close and shift abruptly to online or hybrid learning in 2020, education outcomes were significantly disrupted.
Remote learning was particularly challenging due to limited internet access and a lack of familiarity with digital platforms among both teachers and students, especially in rural areas.
Research by the Inter-American Development Bank shows that prolonged school closures led to notable learning losses in core subjects such as English language and mathematics, with achievement in foundational skills dropping sharply by the end of primary school.
Standardized exam data indicated that some content areas suffered declines of roughly 55 percent, and secondary school dropout and grade replication rates surged in the years following the closures.
“Based on administrative data, the study also analyzes changes in student enrollment, dropout rates, and grade repetition at the primary and secondary levels. We find that school closures resulted in significant learning losses in English language and mathematics at the end of primary education. Matching international trends, the largest losses occurred in mathematics,” the IDB publication noted.
“The largest increase in dropout and repetition levels were found in urban secondary schools: the average dropout rate increased by 51 percent in the 2020/21 school year, compared with the average rate in the year prior to the start of the pandemic, while the repetition rate increased from 6.7 percent in the 2019/20 school year to 11.6 percent in the 2021/22 school year,” it added.
The Ministry of Education pursued targeted strategies to help students recover lost ground.
Initiatives like the Literacy Alive reading intervention are being piloted across government primary schools to address foundational reading and comprehension weaknesses that were exacerbated by the pandemic.
The program uses structured assessment tools to tailor support for struggling learners and equips teachers with research-based literacy training.
Additionally, the Ministry has partnered with international organizations, including the International Development Bank, to roll out technology-assisted learning through programs such as Doodle Learn, which provides Chromebooks and tailored math and language lessons to students most affected by COVID-related disruptions.
But are more reading intervention programs needed?
The Ministry’s long-term Education Sector Plan notes that COVID-19 widened existing learning gaps, particularly in communities with limited technological infrastructure, underscoring the need for sustained investment in quality teaching, learning resources, and digital access.
While students are back in classrooms and hybrid learning has eased, educators continue to prioritize reading, writing, and comprehension recovery as part of broader curriculum transformation efforts.
“This Plan is built on a commitment to Access, Equity, and Quality. Our plan is student centered and focused on student learning outcomes. Our education system continues to fail too many of our people. We must reverse this devastating reality with a sense of purpose and urgency,” Minister of Education Francis Fonseca noted.
The Ministry of Education is urging everyone to join efforts and “Make Education Work for Belize.”
The post Did Belizean students recover after the COVID-19 Education gap? appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Zoila Palma: The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools in Belize to close and shift abruptly to online or hybrid learning in 2020, education outcomes were significantly disrupted. Remote learning was particularly challenging due to limited internet access and a lack of familiarity with digital platforms among both teachers and students, especially in rural areas. Research
The post Did Belizean students recover after the COVID-19 Education gap? appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
