CDB provides loan facility to Belize for a Student Loan Scheme

The Government of Belize will embark on a student loan scheme, thanks to a 6-million-dollar facility from the Caribbean Development Bank, CDB.  A release from CDB says that the money will assist close to 800 learners, including financially disadvantaged persons, pursuing post-secondary and tertiary level programmes. Through the Belize Student Loan Project, funds will be made available to the country’s Development Finance Corporation, DFC, to assist students seeking training in areas identified under GOBZ’s human resource development strategy as critical for improving the country’s economic competitiveness. The loan to the Belize Government was approved at a recent meeting of CDB’s Board of Directors. CDB’s Vice-President of Operations, Isaac Solomon was quoted as saying that to improve economic competitiveness and social cohesion access to learning, training and capacity-building opportunities must be available as widely as possible, especially for persons with financial challenges. Anticipated benefits of the CDB Project include escalations in enrolment and graduation rates for tertiary level programmes, an increased number of highly skilled professionals and practitioners entering the Belizean workforce, and improvements in the employability and productivity of the local human resource pool.