An assessment of distance education in western Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 8 (ACN) Although the learning channels officially said goodbye last Friday, the province of Pinar del Rio will be the first to put the end, on July 23, to a whole period of intense struggle to ensure the continuity of the 2020-2021 school year despite the COVID-19 scourge.

It is worth mentioning that the current academic year did not begin at the same time nationwide, since the new outbreaks in January forced the shutdown of schools in dozens of municipalities. These differences were taken into account to design the online education programs, but while Havana managed to overcome the difficulties and its students could rely on the learning channels, Cuba’s westernmost province was unable to “take the leap”.

“Come July 23, this stage will be declared closed,” said Dania López Gulbone, Deputy Minister of Education, “as we managed to keep the courses operational despite the difficult circumstances and guarantee the development of the educational process and the links among schools, families, communities, agencies and organizations.”

She described as vital the support of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, the CINESOFT Company and the Division of Educational Technology to organize and offer these teaching programs, through which the teachers guided the students and their families in the pursuance of the goals for each level, subject, grade and year.

Lópéz Gulbone explained that the programs engaged 15 Cuban sign language interpreters and 103 professors, including methodologists, teachers, directors of educational institutions and researchers. About 2,000 30-min televised teaching programs were broadcasted.

“We have worked very hard all the time (…) online and even by phone to give advice and dispel doubts with the students and their parents; our librarians took books and didactic materials to remote communities; and we have offered personalized services to students with diseases or special educational needs,” she pointed out.

“The goals of this assessment are to identify and solve problems, make individual diagnoses, provide guidance to families, and offer assistance to students with difficulties, so that they are all ready for the new school year,” added Lópéz Gulbone.