RE: Mausica History
2007-Mar-05-0437hrs

I am a 1973 - 75 graduate of Mausica Teachers College, and when I saw that the history page keeps coming up empty, I decided to add my two cents worth with the hope that perhaps others may join in. I decided to chronicle the period during which attended MTC, so the attachment is an attempt so to do. I do trust that you would find it useful.

Herbert

Mayfair Mansion

Rm. 9College

No. M19

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The 1973 academic year witnessed the celebration of ten exceptional years of service to Trinidad & Tobago. The logos and banners greeted the new intake of students, and after the usual orienting activities, Mausica Teachers’ College settled down to its normal routine. This normalcy was however shattered with a massive protest over the quantum of personal and book allowances. It should be remembered that when Mausica opened its doors in 1963, each student received the princely sum of $60 monthly as a personal allowance, and an annual book grant of $100.

The protests were so massive that they gained national attention. Classes were suspended; the main entrance was barricaded, so that there was no movement of goods, services and personnel to or from the campus. Prayer vigils were held, and as food supplies began to run low, enterprising students found ways to get around this debacle. Negotiations were eventually held with the Dale Scobie led Student Council and normalcy was returned to the College.

Mausica Teachers’ College students and all other Teachers’ College students benefited from this exercise. Personal and book allowances were increased across the board for pre-service (Mausicans) and in-service teacher trainees. A huge price was extracted for it though:

• Four lecturers who seemed to be sympathetic to the students’ cause were summarily transferred to secondary schools—Elmo Phillip (Social Studies & Spanish), Ronnie Wilson (Mathematics), Alfred Wafe and Gerry Samuel (Language & Literature). The first three of this list were former students of Mausica Teachers’ College.

• At the next round of salary negotiations, the Trinidad & Tobago Teachers’ Union agreed to the following unprecedented terms and conditions for a specified and named group of teachers:

(a) a Teacher I was placed in Range 24 for two years

(b) Teacher I [1974-1975 Graduates of Mausica Teachers' College—Officers with less than two (2) years teaching service] was placed in Range 28 for two years

(c) Teacher I [Officers with two (2) or more years teaching service] was placed in Range 30

It would be remembered that when Mausica Teachers’ College graduates hit the educational landscape of the Caribbean, these fresh and innovative youth were perceived as a threat to the status quo, and these feelings of resentment by older teachers in the system who waited as long as 10 – 15 years before they were selected for Training College as it was known were further exacerbated when Mausica graduates were paid the same salary as their in-service counterparts.

For some then this was an opportunity for payback time. Picture the scenario—teachers graduated from teachers’ colleges all over Trinidad in 1974: Caribbean Union College, Catholic Women Teachers’ College, Government Teachers’ College, Port of Spain Teachers’ college, Naparima Teachers’ College. They all sat the same examination, obtained the same results, yet those from Mausica Teachers’ College with less than two years teaching service were relegated to a salary scale lower than that of their counterparts for two years. Notice too that it was s specific set of teachers from Mausica—the 1974 and 1975 graduates who were all part of that massive protest for increased allowances.

Mausica Teachers College was never the same again. As had become a customary feature at graduation time, in order to forestall any kind of activity deem to be untoward in the graduation ceremony, the 1972 - 1974 graduates were greeted with notices on the notice boards which informed them that breakfast was going to be the last meal served that day, and that all rooms were to be vacated and keys returned to the Warden by 2:00 p.m.

When the 1973 – 1975 students returned to campus for the start of the 1974/75 academic year, several unprecedented events greeted them. For starters, they would not be joined by residential students for the 1975 intake: these students would commute to and from the College for their classes. This meant that only the 1973/75 graduates were living on campus. In order to rationalize space and working arrangements for the cleaners etc., all of the students were housed on the northern side of the campus in the hostels which were the domain of the female students. Villa Nova and Kirkendale were occupied by the female students, and as many male students as could possible fit were accommodated in Wingate. The few males who did not find a place at Wingate were placed in a house next to the Principal’s residence. All of the male hostels were left unoccupied.

The 1974/75 academic year proceeded as usual, but the lecturers who replaced those transferred just could not cut it. Some of the came with certain perceptions about Mausicans, so their interaction with students left a lot to be desired. Some were openly hostile, usually prefacing their tirades with the fact that they had ‘heard’ about students from Mausica.

The Mausica Hindu Society was desirous of commemorating the 1974 Divali celebrations on a grand scale since the expressed sentiment was that this was the last residential students, but it had to be scaled down because the costs to be incurred were way beyond the ability of the group and the Student Body at large. Other celebrations—Carnival etc. were participated in but they all lacked that balance which the entire residential student body gives to College activities.

Graduation time saw the usual shenanigans being played out between Administration and student body, and while negotiations were being conducted, those infamous notices went up. This group of students was prepared for any eventuality. Plan B was put in place and the majority of students gathered at the roof top facility at the Scarlet Ibis Hotel in St. Augustine and graduated themselves.

Mausica Teachers’ College continued as a non-residential facility until 1979, when all Teacher Training institutions were rationalized into two huge entities. The Naparima Teachers’ college in the south was absorbed into the new Corinth Teachers’ College which had come on stream in 1973 and had its first graduation in 1975. This facility was built to facilitate students from southern areas who would have had to daily commute to the north where the majority of Teachers’ colleges were situated. The Valsayn Teachers’ College opened its doors with a student intake in 1977, and its first graduates in 1979 signaled the end of an era in teacher-education in Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

The campus was used for various activities ranging from flight school, regiment camp, and now it is part of the University of Trinidad & Tobago. Some of the buildings are still in shape, but from satellite photos Kirkendale and Villa Nova are now roofless.