By Belize Live News Staff: From preschool classrooms to digital hubs for teens, UNICEF Belize says 2025 brought important progress in making education more inclusive and accessible.
In villages with large numbers of young children not attending preschool, UNICEF launched an Early Childhood Education campaign. Parents met at preschools, community centres and health facilities to learn about early brain development and play based learning. The initiative laid the groundwork for a 20% increase in preschool enrolment.
UNICEF and the Ministry of Education also partnered on a Therapeutic Preschool Initiative, providing early intervention services, specialised resources and teacher training to support young learners with diverse needs.
For adolescents, UNICEF expanded USpaces, youth friendly digital hubs now found in every district. They offer safe places to learn, access to devices and internet, and digital resources tied to programmes like 501 Academy, Girls in ICT and Code.org.
Technology was one of the strongest areas of progress. A major education and technology event brought together more than 200 educators and tech professionals, including Stephanie Sylvestre, the first Belizean born woman to develop an AI model. Belize was also represented at the Giga Connectivity Forum in Geneva.
In addition, 179 primary school teachers across all districts received training to teach students about sustainability, environmental stewardship and agriculture.
UNICEF says lasting change comes from building strong systems, not one off projects, so that every child in Belize can learn and reach their full potential.
