Student Teachers Receive Spanish Scholarships

Twenty students from three teachers colleges, who are pursuing diploma and degree courses in Spanish, have been awarded scholarships totaling $1 million by the Spanish-Jamaica Foundation (SJF).

The sophomore and junior students, who were selected from the Sam Sharpe, Church and Shortwood teachers’ colleges, received their bursaries at a presentation ceremony held on November 20, at Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in Granville, St. James.

To qualify, the scholars had to maintain a B+ average in their Spanish courses over one year.

Spanish Ambassador and SJF President, His Excellency Anibal Abascal Jimenez, who made the presentations, told the students that the global use of Spanish “is expanding…. very fast, especially in North America and it is going to expand more.”

Congratulating the scholars, Education Officer with responsibility for Foreign Language in the Ministry of Education, Martha Corbett-Baugh, charged them to create opportunities to speak the language, build their vocabularies and establish improved standards.

She noted that the increasing number of Spanish hotels within the “golden belt” extending from Ocho Rios to Negril, brings with it employment opportunities for Spanish-speakers, and they will play a critical role in preparing Jamaicans to work in these hotels.

“The presence of (Spanish-speaking investors and visitors) and the need for communication are more than relevant. You are going to be the linguistic communicators. You are going to be the ones, who are going to prepare, train and teach the Jamaican labour force, who will be working in those places. Therefore, your mission goes beyond just learning Spanish for yourselves, but you are learning Spanish for the community, the society and for Jamaica,” she stated.

Mrs. Corbett-Baugh commended the SJF for its commitment to the teaching of Spanish in Jamaica and for enabling student teachers to pursue training and proficiency in the language.