Jamaica’s Response to the CARICOM Mandate II: Teachers for the Primary Level
摘要
This chapter details the second of two strategies in Jamaica’s response to the CARICOM Mandate: The Primary Spanish Specialist Programme (PSSP), a teacher training programme offered at the Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica. Initiated in 2007, the PSSP aimed to prepare Spanish specialist teachers for the primary level. However, it was discontinued due to a lack of financial resources and the inability to provide positions in primary schools for Teachers' College graduates. The limited number of available teachers diminished the impact that the PSSP strategy had on fulfilling this part of the CARICOM Mandate in Jamaica. Ministry of Education officials, Teachers’ College trainers, and past students of Teachers Colleges (PSTs) from this period were interviewed. Results indicate that while PSTs valued and lauded their participation in the PSSP, they expressed disappointment that insufficient preparations were made to integrate this new cohort of teachers into the school system.