RE: Mausica History
2007-Mar-08-2002hrs
Don't find me bothersome, but on my way to class this morning I was singing the calypso I had composed for the 1974 Carnival in Mausica in which I had mentioned a programme that was put on by the College. I had to write again, and then I thought the account would be incomplete without a tribute to those persons like the cleaners, maids, kitchen staff, etc.This is the final one now.
Herbert
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Mausica Teachers’ College – 1973 onwards

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. Enthusiastic performances of the Mausica Anthem (composed by Music Elective student Selwyn Ahyoung, 69 - 71) ensured that “Moulding A Nation Through Service” was the earliest sentiment to be imbibed, and after the usual orienting activities, Mausica Teachers’ College settled down to its normal routine.
The usual individual and hostel presentations at morning assemblies always presented some pleasant surprises, but none were as lasting as that of Mayfair Mansion’s presentation. It featured acts by all members of the hostel, including a karate/sumo wrestling exhibition by the two heftiest Mayfairians—Kamal Abdool and Norris Lewis. For weeks after that assembly the theme song was on every student’s lips.
Soon all energies in the first term were concentrated on an integrated arts project entitled Crisscross. The script and musical arrangements were that of the Principal, Mrs. Daphne Cuffie, and all sectors of the College were precepted into rehearsals for this show. Crisscross was an attempt to give a local perspective on the Christmas story, and some of the leading actors/singers/dancers/musicians included Dennis Conrad, Rose Bereaux, Mary Haroo, Vaughn Hinkson, Glen Worrell, Herbert Garvin, Earl Knight, and the Folk Choir. This programme was so all embracing that end of term examinations were deferred since almost the entire student body in some way or another was in rehearsals for Crisscross. Performances were held at St. Mary’s College Centenery Hall, and the cast and crew of Crisscross were requested back on campus earlier than the rest of the student body so that it could be televised on Trinidad & Tobago Television.
The normalcy with which the College started was however shattered in the second term 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 and the main entrance to the Campus was barricaded. Students manned these on a round the clock basis so that there was no movement of goods, services and personnel to or from the campus. Prayer vigils were held, laundry and sanitation services were becoming compromised, and as food supplies began to run low, enterprising students found ways to get around this debacle. In spite of this students still gave a good account of themselves at the biennial Music Festival.
The three entries in the male quartet section placed in the top three positions, and the Mausica entrant for the newly established class – Folk Song Solo topped this event also. The Folk choir also continued in the excellent Mausica tradition of wowing audience and adjudicator alike. Interestingly one of the pieces performed in the Religious Folk Choir category was a usually sterling Daphne Cuffie arrangement of a song ‘Where Is God In All This Muddle.’ Patrick Musaib-Ali of the 1966 - 68 class composed this selection.
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 then Trinidad & Tobago Teachers’ Union led by St. Elmo Gopaul 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, Range 30 afterwards(c) Teacher I [Officers with two (2) or more years teaching service] was placed in Range 30The Education Act, CHAPTER 39:01, Act 1 of 1966 was duly amended by Parliament to reflect the salary provisions mentioned above (Division II – Teaching Posts in Schools or Institutions, First Schedule: Classification of Officers in the Teaching Service).
It should 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. The very Act of Parliament which placed Mausica Teachers’ College graduates on par with the rest of the established teaching fraternity, increasing their $330.00 monthly salary to that of the others with identical qualifications was used to discriminate against a few teachers who happened to be victims of circumstance—they had not taught for more than two years prior to attending Mausica Teachers’ College.
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 a specific set of teachers from Mausica—the 1974 and 1975 graduates who were all part of that massive protest for increased allowances. Sufficeth to say that this travesty of justice was never addressed by any subsequent bargaining body for teachers.
Mausica Teachers College was never the same again. The Valedictorian of the 1970/72 Graduating Class was exceptionally forthright in his offering, and the status quo was shattered to the core. It must be remembered that this class had entered Mausica Teachers’ College at the height of Black Power unrests in Trinidad & Tobago. As had become a customary feature at graduation time, in order to forestall any kind of activity deemed to be untoward in the graduation ceremony—embarrassing the Administration, the State, its Officials and policies—the Administration by edict demanded perusal of the Valedictory speech for vetting prior to delivery. When this did not materialize graduating classes subsequently 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 and the Campus were to be vacated and keys returned to the Warden by 2:00 p.m.
When the 1973 – 1975 students returned to campus in September 1974 for the start of the 1974/75 academic year, several unprecedented events greeted them. For starters, they would not be joined by any 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 would live 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 possibly 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 them came with certain perceptions and preconceived notions 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. One of these replacement Lecturers in Language/Literature used to become almost hysterical whenever she felt challenged.
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 set of 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. One other noteworthy event of this time was that students on their final Teaching Practice had to find their own transport to and from their respective schools.
Graduation time for the 1973/75 intake 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. The previous group, the 1972/74 students were subject to the infamous notice previously mentioned, but the 1973/75 students made definite plans to forestall any such edict. The Dave Bostic led Student Council executed Plan B—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 Caribbean Union College (now University of the Southern Caribbean) still continues its teacher-training programme.
The Mausica Teachers’ College campus was used for various activities ranging from air traffic control/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.
The opportunity is taken at this juncture to pay tribute to all ancillary staff without whose services we as students would have been students most miserable. Heartfelt thanks to the Catering Supervisor Mrs. Massiah, Mr. Julien, Mrs. Brown (71/73 graduate Everette Browne’s mother) and the other Cooks and Servers in the Dining Room for our meals. Heartfelt thanks too to Helen and the other maids who cleaned our rooms and changed our linens. Heartfelt thanks, too to Ms. Sealy, the Matron, Mr. Lochan for his services as groundsman, and Mr. Ephraim and his colleagues for Security services.. Mausica Teachers’ College students will forever owe you all a debt of gratitude for unstinting and yeoman service.
Fellow graduate, Anna Maria Mora, in her Trinidad Guardian article Mausica’s Legacy Lives On of Tuesday 13th September, 2005 wrote of Mausica: “this experiment was a lesson in creativity, foresight, reasoning and planning.” Its legacy as she puts it is one of “excellence.” May this legacy live on in the hearts and minds of all Mausicans.
God bless Mausica forever.