The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemdia.net

ACTING Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell said the investigation into whether some recently hired Cuban teachers speak English well enough to educate students will be completed by the end of the week.

Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson has claimed that some teachers could not speak English.

Some teachers who spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters supported her claim.

“I would have indicated to Mrs Wilson that we will investigate,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said yesterday. “When our team went to Cuba, it was not just our team. It was the Ministry of Public Service. It was also our HR and our school management, so we had a number of people who made up the panel for the interview process. And so that’s why I said to the president that we will investigate the areas of concern, and we will seek to resolve.”

The director of education said the matter is still under active investigation.

In a previous statement, the Ministry of Education denied Mrs Wilson’s claims, saying the teachers were recruited “as a result of a scrutiny process.”

Mrs McCartney-Russell stressed the ministry’s beneficial relationship with Cuba over the years.

“We’ve had this relationship for 20 years, and it has been quite beneficial to our country,” she said. “I’ve served in various capacities, and I would have had some of these officers under my remit as well. And by and large, their service has proven quite beneficial for us in special education, in technical subjects, as well as in modern language subjects.”

“If we find out that there are issues, we deal with it. We immerse them into our culture so that they are prepared, but by and large, we’ve had an excellent relationship, and it has yielded good results for our children and our country.”