Cuba highlights universities' role in the country's development

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 9 (ACN) Cuban universities face the challenge of training young people as strategic actors for the country's development, said Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, deputy prime minister of the country, speaking at the closing ceremony of the 14th International Congress on Higher Education Universidad 2024.

At the Havana Convention Center, Perdomo Di-Lella explained that the humanist and social character of university education and general education in Cuba responds to the ideals of the founding fathers of the nation and their contributions to pedagogy, among them Rafael Maria de Mendive, Felix Varela, Jose de la Luz y Caballero, Jose Marti, student leader Julio Antonio Mella and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz in contemporary times.

Regarding Fidel, the deputy prime minister pointed out that his strategic thinking made it possible to maintain, for more than six decades, an upward development in Cuban education.

The maximum leader of the Revolution conceived this sector as one of the fundamental pillars in the strategy oriented to the conquest of sovereignty, social justice and the necessary fight against underdevelopment, he said.

According to the deputy prime minister, the struggle is currently underway to ensure that the maximum number of young people reach higher education, so that they can fulfill their role in the country's development, as stated in the Comprehensive Policy of Attention to Children, Adolescents and Youth, approved in 2023 by the National Assembly of People's Power.

In the drafting of these regulations, which will be the basis for a new law to be submitted to the Cuban Parliament in December this year, the work of Cuban universities, their academies and their centers of studies in the social sciences has been decisive, he added.

Perdomo Di-Lella stated that the policy is accompanied by an action plan until 2030, aimed at providing answers to the problems of the youth stage.

Deputy prime minister identified the challenges facing the Higher Education system in Cuba, among which are the expansion of offers of different modalities for young people, the approach to the training of the qualified force to the territories for a greater contribution to territorial development and access to study to those who are unlinked to these.

He insisted on another of the directions of university education, which lies in the need to experience the scientific-technical potential of the country's youth.

To this effect, he insisted, the links between the pre-university vocational institutes of Exact Sciences and the scientific institutions, universities and colleges will be further strengthened.

Cuban deputy prime minister noted that opportunities will be increased for the incorporation of students and young talents in projects that carry out innovation dynamizing structures, such as scientific-technological parks, high-tech and interface companies.

He expressed that the Cuban educational system pursues the strengthening of the teaching of History and Social Sciences as the foundation of culture, national identity and patriotic values, through a renovating didactics.

Under the slogan "Higher Education of the Future: social transformation, quality, relevance and sustainability", the 14th International Congress on Higher Education Universidad 2024 was held in Havana on February 5-9.