Although Cuba's international collaboration is important in the area of health, it also stands out in the area of education.
By Roberto Morejón
Although Cuba's international collaboration is important in the area of health, it also stands out in the area of education.
The most recent sign of this type of agreements with other countries came from Honduras, where more than 120 teachers from the largest Antillean island are taking their first steps, mainly to help reduce illiteracy, which stands at 12 percent.
Methodologists and other specialists will also contribute their experience for the design of curricula in various specialties.
But Cuban teachers and education technicians are also in other latitudes, in compliance with agreements, from South Africa to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, from Angola to Venezuela.
It happens that the collaboration of the Cuban people in the educational field is an essential element of the foreign policy and part of a capital importance granted by the State to education.
In spite of the U.S. blockade, which is causing severe material hardships, this year the Cuban government allocated 24 percent of the national budget to education.
It is fair to clarify, in the face of malicious campaigns by the corporate press and adversaries living in the United States, that educators in the largest of the Antilles are very respectful of the politics, religion and social standards of the nations where they provide services.
The cooperation of this Caribbean nation in the field of education is far from any political-ideological or economic demands or impositions of a particular model on the recipient countries.
Tens of thousands of young Africans who studied in schools on the southern Isle of Youth decades ago, as well as those who today receive classes from Cuban teachers in the Bahamas, can attest to this.
Just as they do in their country, instructors from José Martí's homeland teach technical subjects and also help inculcate values and appropriate behavior, with the optimal use of available resources.
This is illustrated in the application of the method called Yo sí puedo (Yes, I can), to reduce illiteracy even in remote and poor regions.
The Cuban educational system, universal, inclusive, participatory, secular and scientific, is working to improve the quality of education in the archipelago, where improvement plans are underway, and is willing to modestly offer its experience in other latitudes.
