Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez.

Havana, October 14 (RHC)-- Cuba is in a position to ensure the safe return to school of all its students and the success of the teaching process, said Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the official pointed out that the return to on-site classes has been taking place since October 4, following the schedule of progressive reinstatement in three groups.

This, she pointed out, following the progress of the vaccination process and the hygienic-sanitary conditions of the territories.

Velazquez pointed out that as of November 15, more than 1,620,000 students and 407,552 workers will attend 10,754 educational institutions in the country to conclude the 2020-2021 school year and start the next course in March 2022, after curricular adjustments.

The system of classes will be developed flexibly based on the diagnosis of each school of its students, who since March last year received the contents through teleclasses under the supervision of parents, guardians, and relatives, with the support of teachers, primarily through social media networks, she explained.

The preservation of the life and health of the participants in the teaching process is the highest priority, she said, so the hygienic and sanitary measures implemented against the Covid-19 pandemic will be observed, and each institution will adopt the corresponding measures taking into account its particularities.

In this sense, she called on families to get actively involved to ensure compliance with these provisions at home and maintain the integrated work with schools.

She assured that the essential material basis for study is guaranteed in spite of the complex economic situation derived from the pandemic and the unprecedented tightening of the blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba for the last six decades.

In the Caribbean island, education is a citizen's right and constitutes a responsibility of the State, which allocates 23 percent of its budget to guarantee it free of charge and universally, he concluded.