THE Spanish-Jamaican Foundation (SJF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the National Association of Spanish Teachers (ANPE), and the Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica, recently staged Spanish immersion days in Kingston, St James, Manchester and Clarendon to assist students sitting the CSEC Spanish exams.

The activities included CSEC oral workshops which saw students practising with native speakers, trained CSEC teachers, and pre-service teachers.

This has been an ongoing initiative for the past ten years but the 2023 staging saw the resumption of face-to-face interactions since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 and 2022 the use of online platforms facilitated a much greater reach across the Caribbean, with students participating from countries such as Belize, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. In light of this, face-to-face sessions were complemented this year, with four online practice sessions hosted by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the SJF.

Diego Bermejo, honorary SJF president and ambassador of Spain, during his brief address to the participating students in Kingston reiterated the importance of learning a second language and expressed his best wishes to them in their upcoming examinations.

The SJF had the support of five missions of Spanish-speaking countries — Spain, Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela. Students visited the booths of each participating country and interacted with embassy representatives.

In St James the foundation also took the opportunity to hand over a cheque totalling approximately $1.3 million which covers the payment of the oral examination fees for the 679 candidates from the Ministry of Education’s regions three and four.

The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, founded in 2006, is a collaborative effort of a number of Spanish companies with current investments in Jamaica. The main objective is to strengthen the friendship between Spain and Jamaica.