Regional Spanish teachers training under CARICOM-Mexico Cooperation Programme

The teaching skills of 33 Spanish teachers from varying CARICOM Member States are expected to be strengthened with a training course that is being implemented by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the government of Mexico.

From December 7, two professors from the National Pedagogic University of Mexico, Professor Elin Emilsson and Dr. Victoria Villaseñor began delivering a two-week Spanish training course intended to provide the teachers with modern methods to teach Spanish as a second language. The course, which concludes on December 18, is a follow-up to an initial training session in a Basic Spanish that was conducted in March 2013. Teachers from Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname are attending the training session which is being held Regency Hotel and Suites in Guyana.

It is expected that participants will learn more about the Mexican culture. They will also participate in a forum to discuss creative and viable solutions to some of the problems they face. In addition to the formal training, the teachers will participate in extracurricular activities such as movie nights, storytelling and other activities that will help them to get immersed in the Spanish language.

The course is part of the VI Mexico-CARICOM Cooperation Programme 2014-2015. It is a significant contribution that Mexico continues to give to CARICOM as part of its technical cooperation. It is a gathering that helps to create an opportunity for the mutual understanding of each other’s culture among the people of Mexico and the Caribbean.