In 2016 the governments of South Africa and Cuba signed a bilateral agreement on collaboration on basic education. As part of the agreement, 15 Cuban mathematics and physical science specialists are currently deployed across five provinces in South Africa to support subject advisors and teachers in the effective delivery of the curriculum for the respective subjects. Contracted through the Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) Conditional Grant, the Cuban specialists conduct teacher workshops, help build Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and develop support materials to support teaching and learning in areas identified by the provinces.
A group of DBE officials conducted a monitoring visit at the Queenstown Provincial Teacher Development Institute in Komani, Eastern Cape on 12 August 2026, where a workshop on Geometry for the Intermediate and Senior Phases was being conducted by one of the three Cuban specialists based in the province. Mr Ngwanatau Mathiba, Assistant Director in the MST, Curriculum Innovation and E-Learning Directorate said that the objective of the programme in the MST Conditional Grant is not only to improve learner performance in mathematics and science subjects, but also to considerably increase the number of learners enrolling for these subjects until matric.
Ms Nomsa Shabangu, Deputy Director for International Relations and Multilateral Affairs at the DBE, explained that each province decides on how to use the specialists assigned to them. “Some of the challenges related to learner performance are province specific. That is why we urge the provinces taking part in the programme to conduct a gap analysis, in relation to current learner performance and desired outcomes, so that the specialists can provide targeted interventions whose effectiveness can be assessed over time,” she said.
The National Coordinator for the DBE Cuban Education Specialists Programme, Ms Yamaris Hidalgo Sanchez, spoke on the sustainability of the programme: “We will not be in South Africa forever, therefore the strategies we are developing for the country must last and be useful long after we are gone. Through the trainings we conduct and the support we provide to districts and schools, we are working towards ensuring that we create a lasting impact and leave a footprint in the provinces within which we have been deployed. We are encouraged by the gradual improvement in results that we are seeing in Limpopo and Gauteng.”
Although the Cuban specialists support only three education districts in the Eastern Cape, namely, Chris Hani West, Chris Hani East, and Joe Gqabi, the teaching material they have developed can be used country-wide as it is SACE-endorsed. According to Ms Sikelelwa Mzamo, the Programmes Manager for MST Conditional Grant in the Eastern Cape Department of Education, to increase the reach of the programme, the province decided on material development and mediation as the main role that the Cuban specialists would focus on. “The support we deploy to teachers is robust. As and when our district-based subject advisors identify gaps in the teaching of mathematics, science and technology subjects, the Cuban specialists develop the material, with practical examples of how to effectively deliver the lesson. For the past five years Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani East have been leading in the province in terms of learner outcomes in mathematics and physical science, a testament to the usefulness of the programme,” she added.