US blockade affects Cuban education

 

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 28 (ACN) The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba prevents the proper functioning of the Cuban educational sector, not only by hindering the development of professionals in international spheres, but also by making it difficult to obtain a material basis for living and studying.

In the report entitled “Necessity of putting an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, presented by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuban foreign minister, it is stated that 38 hours of this unilateral measure is equivalent to the cost of production and acquisition of the material basis of study that the country needs to cover the needs of the educational system for a year, which means about 22 million dollars.

Misael Cruz Dieguez, director of the "Osvaldo Socarras Martinez" Mixed Center in the Cuban eastern province of Holguin, explained to the Cuban News Agency that the school, being a secondary, pre-university and polytechnic school, has a high need for study and living material base, in addition to being in a process of educational improvement, where most of the bibliography requires technological support.

We have one computer for every five students, which makes the improvement process difficult for tenth grade students because, since they do not yet have the required books, the students rely on technology to obtain the materials in PDF format or to make educational consultations, according to Cruz Dieguez.
For her part, Sarima Jardines Montero, president of the Student Federation of Secondary Education (FEEM) in the municipality of Baguanos, said that the students of the center, through the Student Work Brigade project, carry out volunteer work for the restoration of chairs, tables and books, which are very deteriorated because they have passed through several generations.

It would be easier to replace, at least, the material basis of life with a new one, but due to the blockade it is more expensive to acquire them from third countries as well as to manufacture them in our own, because the raw material, in some cases, must also be brought from abroad, she expressed.
The blockade is an act of genocide and a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people, because it represents a cruel and unjust policy of punishment.