Nine graduates from the Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine campuses of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) will participate in the 2023/2024 Teaching Assistant Programme. The programme, fully funded by the Government of Colombia through its training agency, ICETEX, is coordinated by The UWI’s Latin American-Caribbean Centre (LACC).

The new participants will join 153 graduates who through the programme had the opportunity to assist in the teaching of English as a second language at Colombian universities. Graduates gain invaluable exposure to a new culture and people and experience which enhances their career options.

The Teaching Assistant Programme was established by Memorandum of Understanding between The University of the West Indies (The UWI) and ICETEX in 2009. Since 2017, LACC has promoted this opportunity across all UWI campuses.

Ms. Janell Anderson, a graduate of the Mona Campus and Teaching Assistant (TA) 2022/2023, gave an enthusiastic review of her experience and its impact on her future career: “I am extremely proud and grateful that this has indeed been my reality. Thanks to the ICETEX program, I have positively influenced the English learning process of several students and teachers at the Instituto Superior de Educación Rural, Pamplona. I have successfully piqued and maintained their interests and encouraged them to study English as a foreign language. It has been a great process interacting with both my colleagues and my students, and it has also helped me to practice my Spanish tremendously. I am one step closer to being a great translator or language teacher. In addition, I've been able to experience the dynamic Colombian lifestyle and culture whilst sharing with them my own vibrant Jamaican culture. To God be the glory!’’

UWI students of Spanish also benefit from the programme with the Colombian Government assigning Colombian teachers to assist in the teaching of Spanish as a second language across The UWI’s five campuses, as a co-funded initiative. For the academic year 2023-2024, the Cave Hill, Mona and St. Augustine campuses will each receive a Colombian Teaching Assistant.

In assessing the value of this reciprocal arrangement, the coordinator of the programme at UWI St. Augustine, Ms. Paola Palma, gave a positive review from her 16 years of experience first as Colombian Teaching Assistant and now as a full-time Instructor of Spanish. "Colombian TAs are cultural ambassadors. Their direct interactions with the students, added to the activities that they host for the students, help them learn and understand different aspects of the foreign language culture that is not usually included in a course syllabus. This is also a reciprocal benefit, because the TAs return to their home country also to become ambassadors of that foreign culture in which they were immersed for a year or two... I have been fortunate to witness first-hand how these programmes benefit everyone involved – The UWI's language departments, the TAs from both countries, UWI students, the future students of these TAs, even other parties not directly related with the programme. Some of our former students that went to Colombia have created connections with other institutions/companies in Colombia and they are now promoting tourism, academic visits, and import/export businesses between both countries."

The UWI shares the cost for the Colombian TAs, an expense which Ms. Palma notes is "definitely a worthwhile financial investment for The UWI, because they create a space for building knowledge and personal/academic relations that can develop in future projects."

The UWI-ICETEX commitment has been ongoing since 2009 on amicable terms, with mutually beneficial outcomes and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.