Cuba Begins New School Year with Better Conditions

On September 1st, schools will begin its new academic year with better material and organizational conditions that will facilitate over one million 700 thousand children in primary and secondary levels and some 170 thousand students in higher education.

During the summer months 78 million Cuban pesos were invested in over one thousand 800 schools and day care centers and some 20 million were destined for maintenance of the universities.

Some of the tasks were replacing restrooms, restoration of the carpentry areas, roofs and changing the lighting of the classrooms.

The Education Ministry destined 17.5 million dollars in importing furniture, refrigeration and cooking equipment in addition to hygiene and cleaning materials.

The institution also purchased equipment like projectors, air conditioners, printers and photocopiers in addition to biology, chemical and physics and language laboratories.

Some 12.7 million books will be destined to students from 1st to 12th grades while the university level is guaranteed with their materials although of the total number of the books published for the sector only 80 percent were competed and the rest will be completed in digital format.

The computer laboratories from primary to pre university level will have three thousand 900 new machines while higher education will receive 3 thousand 200 new and used computers but upgraded with new components.

In the case of the universities, 17 of the 23 existent machines are connected by optic fiber and will continue increasing its Wi-Fi connection.

Secondary education will also advance in their computer process with the arrival of 390 new NBOX, technology that will replace the VHS videos and allow viewing images and texts in digital format on analogic televisions.

Thanks to the growing school enrollment and pedagogical universities, 95.2 percent of general education is guaranteed with teachers that are full time employees of the centers.

The installations will have three thousand professors more than in 2014 due to the incorporation of retired teachers that are contracted by the centers and other recently graduated professors.

Incorporated into the integration process this new school year are the University of Oriente, Guantanamo, Las Tunas, Holguin, Pinar del Rio and the Central de Las Villas with only the province of Havana to join the restructuring of the higher education level.

On its part, the primary and secondary levels will continue the transformation implemented in their internal organization and flexibility in the schools hours allowing more time for self-study, more space teachers to review the students and strengthening the school-family-community relationship.

New this coming September will be careers in Computer Design and Artistic Education as a Regular Night Course in addition to Technical-Professional Education will begin new profiles of qualified worker.