As part of its objective of using football to have a positive social impact, FIFA Foundation is supporting a programme in Belize which will help introduce computer science and robotics education at 40 primary schools across the country. Known as the FIFA Digital Education Programme, it will also be rolled out in Paraguay (South America), Mauritania (Africa) and India (Asia) at a later date, demonstrating FIFA’s commitment to reinvesting revenues in local and regional communities in ways that can be long lasting and far-reaching. The programme in Belize follows a memorandum of understanding which was signed in the Central American country in July 2023 with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MOECST) and the Football Federation of Belize (FFB). “Our partnership with the Ministry of Education in rolling out this digital education programme demonstrates the FFB’s commitment to ensuring the holistic development of our athletes,” said Sergio Chuc, the President of the FFB. “This is our contribution to bridging Belize’s economic development into the service and technological era. Our domestic market is too small to contemplate industrialisation and therefore this is a leap into the future with digital education.” The programme began with computer science and robotics workshops conducted across Belize from 22-26 April. These took place in different Belizean districts, providing educators with valuable training and resources to teach these subjects effectively.

Over the next three years, the FIFA Foundation Digital Education Programme will aim to introduce computer science and robotics education at 40 primary schools across Belize and train up to 300 teachers in the computer science and robotics curriculum. It will benefit up to 10,000 students between the ages of eight and 11 over three years. The project promotes digital skills and the development of abilities such as computational thinking, creativity, collaborative work and problem-solving for school students living in vulnerable contexts. “FIFA has an enormous responsibility to go beyond the four lines of the pitch and use football to benefit communities around the world,” said FIFA Foundation Executive Chairman Mauricio Macri. “This initiative highlights our ability to have a positive impact on a global scale. Technology is a key part of life nowadays, including football, and the Digital Education Programme will ensure that these students do not get left behind.”

Adding a fun football-related element to the programme – participants will also learn how to apply their newly-honed skills to create robotic prototypes that can take part in in-game elements, such as goalkeepers that track and predict penalties, passing and shooting. All of which will contribute to substantially increasing the number of youth with relevant skills for employment.

In a statement on the partnership and programme, the MOECST said: “Through the FIFA Foundation Digital Education Programme, competencies in programming, robotics, and computational thinking are being promoted, aligning with Belize’s recent national curriculum framework, which prioritises imparting values, principles and cutting-edge knowledge and skills essential for sustainable human development within Belize.”