Spanish language drive launched as students, teachers prepare for Panama immersion

Fifteen secondary school students and several teachers are set to travel to Panama for a two-week language and cultural exchange, as Barbados embarks on a national campaign to boost Spanish proficiency and deepen ties with Latin America.

The initiative, part of a US$100 000 ($200 000) technical cooperation project named Enhancing Capacities to Communicate in Spanish, aims to advance bilingualism, cultural understanding and new national policy to embed Spanish across education, trade, tourism, business, and the public sector.

Launched under the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) SOMOS – Spanish Opens More OpportunitieS programme, the scheme seeks to foster a whole-of-government commitment to multilingualism.

At a high-level dialogue hosted at Wyndham Sam Lord’s Castle, government officials agreed to create an inter-ministerial working group tasked with coordinating the roll-out and crafting a national strategy for Spanish language learning.

Ministries and agencies will allocate resources in the 2026 national budget for staff training and a public education push.

Finance minister Ryan Straughn voiced strong support for the project.“You can be assured that the Ministry of Finance will absolutely fully support these initiatives, because it is important for the future of Barbados,” he said, highlighting the milestone of bringing together “all stakeholders… to chart a course for how we’re going to make this happen.”

The programme will see students participating in daily Spanish lessons, cultural excursions, and innovation workshops in Panama, while six teachers undertake advanced professional development, focusing on modern methodologies and collaborative exchanges with Panamanian institutions.

Dr Stacy Richards-Kennedy, CAF’s regional manager for the Caribbean and its representative in Barbados, described the project as a demonstration of the development bank’s commitment to people-centred growth.

“Through this grant funding, CAF is helping to create avenues for young Barbadians to experience the value of bilingualism in real-life settings,” she said. “SOMOS is a pioneering initiative… by strengthening Spanish language proficiency, we build trust, deepen relationships, and strengthen our ability to do trade, tourism, joint research and innovation.”

CAF social and human development manager, Pablo Bartol, underscored the project’s wider significance: “Promoting Spanish language proficiency connects people with opportunities, and builds the foundation for stronger integration between the Caribbean and Latin America.”

Further measures include a national diagnostic study and roadmap to guide ongoing policy development. Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman announced that the ministry will soon launch its official website in Spanish and emphasised future plans: “Barbados must start introducing Spanish from the early years and create learning environments where language becomes part of how children experience the world.” (BT)