San Antonio del Sur's first daycare center to open soon

GUANTÁNAMO, Cuba, Jul 7 (ACN) In the midst of the pandemic, as the summer vacation period draws near, the construction of the first daycare center in the municipality of San Antonio del Sur, a long-awaited event among local working mothers, is receiving a major boost today, so that the new facility raises to 40 the number of such centers in the province.

In a recent visit, Oscar Quintero, investment coordinator of the municipal government, verified the accelerated progress of the works and the availability of the materials to conclude its first stage, which includes three of the four large buildings planned to accommodate 150 children in the new school year.

The official told ACN that the beautiful building will benefit hundreds of working mothers in the region, the reason that builders from the Empresa de Aseguramiento y Servicios a la Educación are working tirelessly to have it ready now that the necessary resources and materials are in place after irregularities in their supply in 2015 that forced a postponement of the construction work.

Yuvasnovys Maceo, head of the Provincial Department of Early Childhood, said that the center has a new type of structural design with six airy classrooms for children from second to sixth year of life and will have a 26-strong staff that includes 16 educators.

Nowadays, 6,406 children in the province count on 39 daycare centers, a result of a project for early childhood education created in 1961 as the brainchild of Fidel Castro and promoted by the Federation of Cuban Women under the guidance of Vilma Espín.

It is known, however, that the demand for these schools exceeds the supply, which is why priority is given to the children of working mothers with two or more offspring—in keeping with the policy of stimulating birthrate—-and a program Educate Your Child, a non-institutional model that prepares more than 33,000 local children before they enter school, is strengthened.

During the current complex scenario, 28 of the province’s daycare centers have remained open for parents who hold key socioeconomic positions.