Weeks after hinting at the possibility of Spanish being taught as a compulsory subject in schools, President Irfaan Ali yesterday announced that this will be a reality beginning September this year.
And while numerous questions will be raised about the Ministry of Education’s capacity to execute such a vision, with some schools not even having enough teachers, Ali hinted at the possibility of importing teachers from other territories.
“As of September, Spanish will be compulsory in our primary school curriculum… I have been told we have adequate capability especially at the secondary level to have this compulsory Spanish taught and we have engaged a number of bilateral partners to loan us human resource assets in this period of transition,” Ali said while responding to a follow up question.
He made the announcement after his hour-long opening address at a press conference held at the Office of the President yesterday.
At the commissioning ceremony for the Good Hope Secondary, he said that given the trajectory Guyana is on and the geographic location of the country, this is a skillset every child should have.
“We now have to move towards making Spanish compulsory in our school system because it is vitally important for young people coming up in this country,” the President said back in June.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand yesterday told Stabroek News every effort will be made to have a wider percentage of the student population gain access to Spanish lessons and teachers
She noted too that since last year, they have been considering ways in which a foreign language, a sports subject, musical instrument, and a TVET subject, could be a part of the compulsory curriculum.
Additionally, Manickchand explained the ministry through its Learning Channel has also been airing daily Spanish lessons. She stated that those who participated in Spanish classes, and practiced at least 15-20 minutes a day should have been proficient by now.
Notwithstanding this, the Minister said too that Portuguese and French are being offered in school and at the level of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
Now that he is the president of the country, Ali said he regrets that he dropped out of Spanish classes during his schooling.
“One of my greatest regrets now that I’m in this [position]… is that I dropped Spanish in secondary school,” he shared.
Meanwhile, the President informed that in the introductory rollout of the lessons, they are aiming to include grades Four or Five all the way to secondary schools.
“Being in a continent in South America… we boast we are the only English-speaking country. We have to realise too, that we are part of this continent that speaks Spanish. And I believe we are going to do the future young people of our country an injustice if we don’t point them in this direction. If you want to be competitive internationally, you have to have this second language,” the President underscored.
Ali in the same breath, hinted at the establishment of an online learning portal teaching the foreign language to those who wish to become bilingual.
The President added that his government is working to develop a highly skilled human resource base with necessary skills. On this note, the President said that his cabinet Ministers will also be expected to pursue studies in Spanish.
He underscored that Spanish has now become a vital language in our society as not only international organisations are looking for bilingual speakers but the regular business as well.
In this regard, he stated that the private sector will also move towards having their employees trained in Spanish.
In the last 10 years, Guyana has seen an influx of Cuban shoppers and Venezuelan migrants. As a result, Regent Street businesses and other entities have moved to hiring Spanish speakers in a bid to attract customers.
