Cuban universities aim at greater internationalization

 HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 26 (ACN) Maria Victoria Villavicencio Plasencia, head of the Department of International Relations of the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), said that the main goal of her division is to further promote the internationalization of Cuban universities and make the university community aware of the current trends of this process around the world, where education at this level is deemed key in the knowledge society and calls for a greater culture of internationalization for the benefit of sustainable development and inclusiveness.

She remarked that, even if the MES and its Department and higher education institutions boast a long tradition of international cooperation, they need to work harder and foster their internationalization strategy, intended to improve the current learning indicators and contribute to regional development and to the Sustainable Development Goals, pursuant to the National Socioeconomic Development Plan.

“We are striving to introduce our contents and study programs into international platforms, internationalize the syllabus for the so-called mirror classes―a new academic resource that gathers and interconnects the world’s most talented professors―and much more”, she stressed. “I wish all Cuban university students could have international experience during their training period”.

Ms. Villavicencio added that the MES has already established a higher education internationalization network with its own statutes and a resolution designed to strengthen the process and is now preparing the official opening of an observatory of internationalization, which they will launch next month.

On his end, MES Deputy-Minister Reynaldo Velázquez Zaldívar praised each of these ongoing strategies and heralded their successful presentation in coming conferences, including the Congress “University 2026”, which will host the First Meeting of International Graduates from the Cuban Education System, dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Fidel Castro Ruz.

More than 84,000 foreign students from 170 countries have graduated in Cuba, Mr. Martínez pointed out.