By Rachel Scott Guardian Staff Reporter

Copyright thenassauguardian

Reflecting on the effort to improve special needs education in the public school system, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin said the decision not to recruit Cuban teachers this summer has created a gap in that area.

However, she said it is a challenge she hopes will be rectified in the next few days.

“We have a little challenge at this point in that a lot of our special education teachers came from Cuba, and the decision was made to discontinue the recruitment for the time being,” said Hanna-Martin, who appeared as a guest on the ZNS radio show “Immediate Response”.

“That created a challenge for us, but we are now seeking to meet that deficit, which I hope will happen during the course of this week, where we’ll be able to put special needs teachers where there are gaps.”

Hanna-Martin said addressing special needs in the public system is a key concern in her ministry, noting that at one point, hundreds of children were on a waiting list to be assessed.

She said the ministry has been working with the Marjorie Davis Institute for Special Education to develop a better system.

“We got a consultant, who trained teachers, so that they are able to identify right away where they see some concerning things, not to diagnose, but to identify, and then to pass it on to the specialist,” she said.

“We were able, in conjunction with the Marjorie Davis Institute, to clear the waiting list.

“Of course, the waiting list has built up again, I can imagine, because there seems to be — and I don’t have the statistics here — but there seems to be significant levels of attention that need to be paid to special needs. We have been focusing on eliminating the waiting list.”

Hanna-Martin said the ministry supported 13 teachers in obtaining their master’s degrees in special education, who will now be able to work in schools across the country.

She said this year, there will also be audiologists and physiotherapists to help provide support for special needs students.

“We have said every child counts, and that includes children with special needs,” she said.

The special needs teacher gap is part of a broader struggle with teacher shortages, something Hanna-Martin has noted is an international issue.

However, she said yesterday that the government is committed to reviewing benefits and other factors with a goal of improving recruitment and retention of teachers.

Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson said yesterday that changes need to be made to prevent the same problem from reoccurring each year.

“There are some recent graduates of the University of the Bahamas who attended orientation in August 2025 who have not yet been hired,” she said.

“Sadly, a few people left their jobs to start new jobs with the Ministry of Education and they have not been hired as yet.

“The recruitment process must be improved. Every year it’s the same issues with teacher recruitment and the timely hiring of new educators.”