To teach Spanish in secondary schools
A NEW batch of 18 Cuban teachers arrived in the island on Saturday to take up jobs in the nation's schools as part of the Jamaica-Cuba Co-operation Programme, a joint agreement between the education ministries in Jamaica and Cuba.
The Cuban teachers are here at a time when Burchell Whiteman, Jamaica's Minister of Education, and the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) are embroiled in controversy about cutting 300 teachers from the Government's payroll, because of overstaffing in some schools.
There are 17 men in the Cuban contingent, and a decision has already been made to assign the sole woman in the team, Doralba Auzardo, at Mile Gully High School, Manchester.
"An average of between 16 and 18 teachers from Cuba come here as part of the programme every year. They teach Spanish, and they will be working in mostly high schools across the island," said Juan Sanchez, co-ordinator of the programme.
He said one would be employed at the Discovery Bay All- Age School, St. Ann and another at the Naggo Head Primary School, Portmore, St. Catherine.
The teachers will be in Jamaica for two years on non-renewable contracts to teach in secondary schools on similar terms and conditions as local teachers. They are also subjected to the same rules governing the local teaching profession.
"We will be getting the same pay as Jamaican teachers. We will have to pay for rent, meals and transportation. The principals will only help us look for accommodation," Mr. Sanchez said.
"We're teaching, but we're learning as well," he said. "Cubans and Jamaicans have always been very close, because we've had a very good relationship with Cuba from the last century. Three of the new teachers are of Jamaican parentage, and our teachers also need to learn patois and English because sometimes Jamaican students studying in Cuba ask questions in patois or English," said Mr. Sanchez.
According to Sanchez, more than 100 students study free in Cuba in disciplines such as medicine.
The agreement between Jamaica's Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Education in Cuba for the employment of Cuban teachers in Jamaica was signed in October 1997.
Earlier this month, Mr. Whiteman came under heavy fire for a decision to cut roughly 300 teachers from the education system, starting January 2001.
Asked if the intake of Cuban teachers could affect the employment of Jamaican teachers, Mr. Sanchez said: "We're here to work and to work hard. There is a scarcity of Spanish teachers here, and these teachers will be concentrating on mainly Spanish. We won't be affecting the employment of Jamaican teachers."
