Public Education and Resources in Cuban Schools and Universities

• In Event: Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessities in U.S.-Cuba Relations: Language, Policies, Resources, Resilience, Trust, and Position

Abstract

Purpose: Since the triumph of the Revolution, Cuba has been a leading country in the educational sector. All educational levels are public and for free. From the beginning of the literacy campaign in 1961, hundreds of thousands of people have benefitted from the system. This paper analyzes professors’ and students’ perspectives on resource allocation in Cuba.

Objectives and Perspectives: Because higher education in Cuba is regarded as comprehensive with more than 200,000 graduates of 110 careers each year, students can have access to higher education by maintaining good grades and can choose the course that best fit their goals and expectations once they become professionals. The requirement is a two-year contribution with a minimum salary as part of the social service once graduated.

Equally important is the subject of the salaries of educators. More and more professors are leaving the educational sector in search for better economic opportunities. As a result, 85% of graduates at the faculty are selected to work in education during their social service period, even when the degree profile establish they should work best as translators.

This research is positioned from the perspective of an English language graduate of the Foreign Language Faculty at the University of Camagüey who has benefitted from the public education system and currently works as an interpretation professor. This paper considers the distribution of resources and opportunities that need to be evaluated in Cuba, in order to determine the future and possibilities of the Cuban education system and U.S. - Cuba relations.

Methods: Surveys and semi-structured interviews were distributed to students and professors that are World Languages faculty.

Data: The sample for the study includes the faculty at a Cuban institution that work with world languages (e.g. French, English, Italian) and their students (n=20).

Results: A third of the sample interviewed mentioned their concern with the fact that most resources exist in Havana University (the capitol) while the general and specialized bibliography used throughout the six years of the degree is almost non-existent in the Camagüey province.
The public education system in Cuba is the pedestal that supports the professional layer of our society. Most of the subjects (approximately sixty percent) find that there are several components that need revising within the public education system. The books and teaching materials provided by the university are scarce, internships do not respond to the content of the general curriculum of the degree, and the work opportunities for students once they finish are limited.

Scholarly Significance: The significance of this work is that it provides an opportunity for a Cuban voice to be included in the research about Cuba and the possibilities of U.S. and Cuba relations. If there are comparable differences between resources of rural areas and compared to those in more urban-centered areas in the U.S., then Cuba and the U.S can provide resources to each other and its implications to education.

Authors

• Chavely Villariño Ferrer, University of Camagüey, Cuba

• Ebony Terrell Shockley, University of Maryland - College Park