CUBA is prepared to supply more teachers to prop up the shortage of Jamaica’s classroom talent if the Ministry of Education needs, the socialist country’s senior envoy in Kingston has said.

Ambassador Fermin Quinones Sanchez told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last week that Cuba stands ready to assist Jamaica, if or when the Government requires that kind of support.

The local education system has been in roller coaster mode following the exit of over an estimated 1,000 teachers in the current academic year, most of them for lucrative jobs overseas, in particular the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.

The Ministry of Education has said that the situation is under control although the reality is, day after day, school officials have been reporting late resignations, which have affected the rhythmic functioning of institutions. The ministry also said that several teachers who had before applied for extensive vacation leave, some for up to eight months, had put that on hold in order to reduce the shortage in schools.
Now, Quinones Sanchez said that Cuba, which has over 100 teachers in the local system, can do much more to assist the Jamaican cause.

“Of course. There is no limitation from Cuba’s side about any request that would be made by the Jamaican Government and the Ministry of Education to continue supporting the education sector,” the diplomat said.

“There are possibilities to bring new teachers from Cuba, not only teachers in Spanish — because the great majority of teachers are teaching Spanish in Jamaican public schools — but there are possibilities for bringing more teachers in science, which is the other area where they are working in Jamaica now.”

Quinones Sanchez said that his country, located north of Jamaica, would also be able to help improve Jamaica’s special needs capacity, if required. There have been concerns that some schools at the primary and secondary level often fall short in handling children with special needs, even though — in terms of infrastructure — some progress has been made in the physical improvement of some institutions.

“We mentioned some time ago to the Jamaican Government of the possibility to expand the cooperation of the bilateral agreement to tackle some special needs of children with certain disabilities that need some kind of support,” the ambassador continued.

“Cuba has been developing special needs skills over many, many years, and now we have teachers who are well prepared to work with children with special needs. Cuba is ready to participate in such a programme if it is the request, of course, by the Jamaican Government.”

In The Bahamas alone, Cuba has over 150 special needs teachers working with children of that popular tourist destination.

“A programme is in place in The Bahamas and it has been having very good results,” Quinones Sanchez said. “Now, we are in the process of expanding educational cooperation to different areas.”

Last week the education ministry said in a statement that 1,155 teachers had joined the sector in time for the new school year. (Jamaica Observer)