Challenges of The Cuban Educational System

Cuban Education: A Success Story by Broc Anderson is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 International License.
CUBAN EDUCATION: A SUCCESS STORY

CHADRON STATE COLLEGE
BROC ANDERSON
Cuban Education: A Success Story
Anderson 2
Thesis
Education in Cuba has proven to be successful. Cuban education is successful because it
is one of the main goals of the revolution and has produced individuals that have been
productive outside the country. Several international organizations such as UNESCO and
ORECAL document this success notably without any funding from outside the country. The long
repressive ties to colonialism and imperialism have had its wear on the Cuban people. Because
of this repressive history, a collective achievement has been the goal rather than individual
success has been ingrained into the curriculum of the education system. Since the revolution of
1959, several policies have ensured that education is preventing colonial or imperial powers
controlling Cuba again.
Several of the educational methods, being controversial, have proven successful in Cuba
and other under developed countries. But this course of action did not come without its
consequences. Since the revolution, several key decisions to keep education as one of the
prominent goal of the government have put the socialist State to the test. Education as a right in
Cuba does not mean everyone is educated by their choice. The education system is set up to
promote the socialist State that is in Cuba by creating workers that provide economic stability
for the nation. This paper discusses what challenges the Cuban education system has had to
overcome and why the education system is constructed the way it is today.
Anderson 3
Fidel Castro overthrew the Fulgencio Batista regime in 1959. Under Batista, Cuban
people were neglected for economic prosperity that would only benefit Batista and his followers.
A new independent nation was born and preserving the new nation was the ultimate task. The
education system in Cuba has been the light on the torch that has since guided the nation into the
international realm in the last fifty years. The idea of education was to bring up a population who
could counter the imperialist ideologies of Europe and the United States. Cuban education is
successful because it creates a strong sense of nationalism to maintain the governments
socialistic agenda and is able to produce workers with specialized skills.
The Start of Cuban Education
The idea of educating the mass of Cuban citizens dates back to 1795 with Father Jose
Agustin Caballero.1 His idea was never going to be reality in his life time because the Spanish
crown was in control with most of the population in slavery or repressed with racist ideals.2
Receiving an education was an opportunity reserved for a selected few with power and money or
those that either came from Spain or had Spanish heritage. Father Jose questioned the philosophy
that slaves, indigenous, and mestizo people were inferior people and unable to receive an
education. Felix Varela, an educated predecessor of Father Jose, followed in Father Joses
footsteps by starting the movement toward national independence, abolition of slavery, and a
more educated Cuban.3
Toward the end of the 19th century the Spanish colonial system began to shrink. With
Puerto Rico and Cuba as the last colonies of the Spanish empire, the first war for Cuban
Ricardo Alarcon,Cuba Education and Revolution. An Independent Socialist Magazine, Vol. 63. (Jul. 2011). (Issue
3). Pp 136.
2
Ricardo Alacorn, Cuba Education and Revolution, 136.
3
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independence took place in 1868.4 The constant questioning of the political regime in Cuba
involved more radical thinking and the start of the twentieth century education was a refuge for
Cuban patriotism.5 However, the United States intervention for Cuban independence only
mirrored Spanish colonialism for the next fifty years. Finally the political and social aspects of
colonialism in Cuba were brought to its knees by student led movements until the victory of the
Cuban revolution in 1959.
The Batista regime was repressive toward Cubans. From 1940 to 1959, Batista was a
strong puppet of the United States and, at the end of his term, represented the colonial power that
Cubans were fighting against since 1868. A two-hundred-year old building for the University of
Havana was demolished for a new helicopter pad.6 Public schools were privatized because the
government did not see education as important as the revenue it could bring into the country.7
Schools that had different ideals than those of the Batista regime were denied necessary materials
for a classroom.8 The Batista regime made it clear regarding education in Cuba.
Education in Cuba began a new trend with socialism. While many western countries
encouraged competition in education, the Cubans wanted to bring up the entire nation from the
bottom up.9 The prime example of this idea is the literacy campaign, which achieved two
positive outcomes, both socially and political. Cuban people believed that if they were educated
they could overcome their impoverished lives.10 While the Cuban government wanted to

Ricardo Alacorn, Cuba Education and Revolution, 136-137.
6
7
8
9
Bill Greenshields, Cubas Battle of Ideas The Education System and The Revolution, Education Review. Vol
23. (2010) (Issue 1). Pp 78-79.
10
Bill Greenshields, Cubas Battle of Ideas The Education System and The Revolution, 78-79.
5
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encourage the involvement of the mass population to further support the new regime.11 The only
way to establish a mass involvement and to allow everyone to overcome their impoverished lives
was by making everyone equal.
Education as the Jewel of the Revolution
Education was used to establish nationalism around the Cuban government. The Cuban
revolution was fought because of the inhumane morals of the corrupt police, greedy elites, and
political leaders neglect of poor marginalized communities in Cuba.12 The only way to
overcome the violent nature of the Cuban people was by educating Cubans to accept the regime.
As Castro stated, The battle to be won against ignorance will give our country more glory than
the military battles already fought or still to be fought.13 Education is the jewel of the revolution
and government because it represented the good morals of the nation that could keep American
imperialism out of Cuba through education.
One of the first movements to prove that education was the priority of the revolution was
making education available financially.14 Scholarship plans were created for students to get to
the University of Havana who previously did not have the resources to go college.15 Luxurious
apartments, built during the Batista regime, housed tens of thousands of students from every
corner of the country attending the University.16 These same apartments serve the same purpose
today as they have for fifty years.17
11
Anders Breidlid, Education in Cuba an Alternative Educational Discourse: Lessons to be Learned?, Journal of
Comparative Education, Vol 37. (Oct. 2007). (issue 5). Pp 620-621.
13
Anders Breidlid, Education in Cuba an Alternative Educational Discourse: Lessons to be Learned?, 621.
14
15
16
17
12
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The literacy campaign in 1961 is another example of proving education was the
prominent goal of the revolution. By 1964, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization, UNESCO, declared Cuba to have almost eliminated illiteracy in the
country.18 How could this happen in such a short period of time? Cuba was not completely
illiterate with a 75% literacy rate, but this should not shadow the significance of this
movement.19 However, student literacy workers mobilized in Cuba and other Latin American
countries came together to educate 700,000 Cubans who could not read and write so that they too
could understand the evil of U.S. imperialism.20 It was the intention of the revolutionary
government to use education in the struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialism.21
Basic education was necessary for the socialist regime to gain support. It is a right in the
Cuban constitution that Cubans have access to a universal education that does not discriminate
based on race, gender, ethnicity, or religion.22 Few individuals had access to education prior to
1960.23 Everyone today has the legal rights to an education, however, one would think a diverse
educated society would overthrow a socialist regime that only looked to eliminate competition.
However, under the socialist State, public education is used as a tool to help establish a socialist
society by installing socialistic ideals into its citizens.24 Therefore, it is not only a right for the
18
20
Elvira Martin Sabina and Mariana Ortega Brena, Thoughts on Cuban Education. Latin American Perspectives,
Vol 36. (Issue 2). Pp 136.
21
22
Wolf, S., Penton, F. H., Marin, A. B. and Romero, O, The Cuban Vocational Education and Training System and Its
Current Changes, Journal For Critical Education Policy Studies, (2011) Pp 226.
23
Current Changes, 227.
24
19
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citizen to have access to education, but part of the political responsibility of the Cuban
government.25
Several methods used back in the 1960s are still used today to build nationalism in the
classroom to support the socialist regime. By July of 1961, all private schools were nationalized
under the socialist regime to prevent any anti-revolutionary ideals to be taught in Cuba.26 Official
State manufactured text books are issued to public schools that only teach the anti-imperialism
perspective.27 Curriculum was drastically changed to model that of Soviet Unions that ensured
all subjects taught were related back to revolutionary process.28
Teaching methods have greatly influenced in preserving socialist ideologies. Previous
methods of memorization were not going to help support the regimes ideas.29 Instead the regime
needed to establish the connection between theory and practice for students.30 Yo Si Puedo, Yes
I Can, is one method created by Cuban teachers to help students read and write.31 Literacy
programs, like Yes I Can, have flooded into other Latin American and African countries
because of the large amount of success.32 Teachers from the literacy movement have taken much
pride in their teaching methods and have continued their research, mandated by the State, to find
better methods to teaching their students.33
25
Wolf, S., Penton, F. H., Marin, A. B. and Romero, The Cuban Vocational Education and Training System and Its
26
Tom G. Griffiths, Fifty Years of Socialist Education in Revolutionary Cuba: A World-Systems Perspective, Journal
of Iberian and Latin American Research. Vol 15. (Dec. 2009) (Issue 2). Pp 47.
27
Tom G. Griffiths, Fifty Years of Socialist Education in Revolutionary Cuba: A World-Systems Perspective, 50.
28
29
30
31
32
33
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Education was the key for Cubans to become relevant in the international realm. Cuban
teachers are working in other under-developed countries to help develop an education system
similar to that in Cuba.34 Sending out teachers promoted a different idea; emulation rather than
competition based schools contradicted many of the imperialist ideas of benefiting a society.35
The socialist education was not concerned with winners or losers, but more with overcoming the
challenge as a group, while individual performance mattered less.36 Whether this method works
or not is based on the prominence of a competitive society or a collective society.37
Educational System
The education system in Cuba is set up in four main stages children have to go through
before their careers. Only about seven percent of the Cuban population have a university level
education, while the average educated Cuban has a ninth grade level of education.38 In primary
school, grades from first to sixth grade, kids are asked to clean the school, help fellow students
struggling in different subjects, work in the school garden and other laborious work.39 After
primary school is secondary school, seventh to ninth grade, which is still considered a basic
education.40 As students come to an end of their secondary education, students are assigned to
their tertiary sector based on test scores.41 If the student scores high enough in certain areas, they
34
Bill Greenshields, Cubas Battle of Ideas The Education System and The Revolution, Pp 77.
36
37
38
Elvira Martin Sabina and Mariana Ortega Brena, Thoughts on Cuban Education. Latin American Perspectives,
136.
39
40
41
35
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are assigned to pre-university classes where they have to again take another test to enter the
university.42
Schooling in pre-university level classrooms are much more intensified than the primary
and secondary levels. Pre-university is preparation for the university, however, a high stakes test
and good grades in secondary school is the only entrance into the pre-university.43 Preuniversities are special schools such as art schools, military academies, and educational schools
for technical and vocational students that do not have the freedom to choose their future
profession.44 Students enter the pre-university with a ninth grade level of education and prepare
for university schooling for about three or four years.45
University level education is divided into four parts.46 All four levels are labeled with a
title as a Professional, Masestria, Especialista, or Doctor. A student with the title of Doctor the
student has completed all four phases.47 School has furthered intensity and can take six to eight
years to complete.48 Once a Cuban has earned a title, the Cuban government requires them to
fulfill two years of social work in their studied expertise.49 Although university degrees are
valued, many university students have focused some of their efforts in the tourist industry where
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
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they can make more than their future government salary.50 To solve this problem, the
government has since discouraged university education through high stakes testing to enter the
university.51
The education system in Cuba is designed to put its citizens into the work force. Cuba is
well known for health education, but very few actually participate in the medical field. Since
there was a strong push for vocational school for students not attending the university, in 2000
and 2001, two-thirds of Cuban youth attended vocational schools.52 Educating too many people
at the university level would create an over educated society with a horrible job market.
Vocational students are taught in the classroom for two years, one year of an internship, and in
the fourth year transitioned into the work force.53 The ultimate goal of these schools is to boost
the national economy and produce blue collar workers.54
Costs and Crisis
Cuban society fell apart as direct economic result of the Soviet Unions fall in December
of 1991 and the embargo between Cuba and the United States. The 1990s marked a special time
period in Cuban history where education regressed, but did not fall because of the governments
allegiance to keep education as a priority. Declaring education as the jewel of the nation did not
come at a cheap price. Everything was going well in Cuba until their main economic resource,
50
51
Current Changes, 234-235.
52
53
54
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the Soviet Union, fell. The education system, among all aspects of Cuban society, was not able to
carry out regimes socialism agenda.55
The rural area of Cuba has been a big expenditure in the national budget. Cuba has
approximately 2,000 schools with 750,000 people living in the remote or rural areas.56 It was
necessary to put schools in these areas of the country for several reasons, but the main reasons
were to hold true to the value of education in Cuba and prevent a mass migration to the more
urban areas.57 Volunteer teachers were big contributors in educating the rural areas of Cuba.58
The Cuban government assisted in constructing homes in the country side or promised gifts were
further incentives for volunteering.59
The tourism industry put the education system on the back burner for many teachers in
Cuba. Many teachers fled to the tourist industry where the salaries were much higher than their
previous pay.60 Even university students have put some of their efforts into the tourist industry
where they can make more than the government salary.61As a consequence of the government
looking to refill its economy through the tourist industry, teachers were in short supply and the
55
Lavinia Gasperini, The Cuban Educational System: Lessons and Dilemmas. Education Reform and Management
Publication Series, Vol. 1. (Jul 2000) (Issue 5). Pp 14.
57
Publication Series, 14.
58
59
60
61
Current Changes, 235-236.
56
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budget for education had decreased by 45% between 1989 and 1998.62 However, Castro prided
that not one school was closed and that no individual was left without an education.63
The ideas of the revolution were disappearing. The national upbringing of all Cubans
became a society where most Cubans were impoverished. It was not uncommon to see a trained
doctor work as a taxi driver or a tour guide so the amount of teachers in this work force should
be no surprise. Some drastic measures had to be taken in order to preserve socialism in the
Cuban education system. Finally in 2001, by cutting in half the amount of teacher training was
the new policy to sustain the financial burden that education had plagued the Cuban treasury.64
Along with the decrease in schooling, teachers were told to increase the amount of nationalistic
ideals in the classroom.65 Anders Breidlid explained.
Not unexpectedly, the introduction of a capitalist economy into a socialist state led to a
gradual reduction in commitment to the revolution and to the values accompanying the
revolution, like solidarity, equality and internationalism. For the regime this alarming
development had to be stopped.66
Adaptation
The Cuban education system had to adapt to survive. Economic crisis and teachers
leaving their positions for better pay was the reality Cuba had to face. Changes were necessary
and they had to come as quick as the impact of the fall of the Soviet Union. If the United States
had lifted the embargo after the Soviet Union fell the education system could have been fairly
62
64
65
66
63
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modern. However, the challenges Cuba has faced made the outcome of educating Cubans, with
so little, much more astonishing.
Free education did not always mean a Cuban student would always receive an education
of his or her choice. Like stated before, Cuban education is pre-determined based on the
qualified teachers recommendation for study and test scores in certain subjects.67 Now, the
entrance exams were made much more difficult by raising the score to qualify for furthered
education.68 If a student did not score high enough, they would then have to stop their education
and fulfill any duties that were required of them to serve in the public sphere before getting a job
elsewhere.69
The regime needed motivated teachers to teach the ideas of the revolution. 2001 brought
the most change since the Soviet Union fell. In an attempt to retain or bring back some of the
teachers that went to the tourist industry, the Cuban government increased teacher wages by
30%, however it proved to be unsuccessful.70 Teachers could earn up to 1,000 pesos nacionales
in the tourist industry while the Cuban teacher was only being paid 500 pesos nacionales.71
Teachers leaving their positions was ultimately blamed for the lack of spirit in the revolution. A
new course of action was needed.72
2001 brought the most change since the Soviet Union fell. Since 2001, teachers have
been trained less and are entering their careers at a much younger age than before to try to fill
67
Current Changes,228.
68
69
70
71
72
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some of the abundant teachers needed.73 Each classroom was to have a television set, electricity,
a teacher ratio 1:15, and several other advances needed to keep Cuban education up to date.74
The majority of these transformations were in the primary and secondary levels in the education
system because technology helped support the comprehensive methods integrating nationalism in
the classroom.75
The United States embargo affected the Cuban education system drastically. Even though
the United States is not the only market, many countries and organizations follow or model the
United States international policies. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF,
have been long supporters of the United States embargo with Cuba.76 Not one penny was given
by these organizations to the Cuban government to keep their education from falling under.77
UNESCO and ORECAL are two organizations that recognize Cubas remarkable achievements
given the lack of funding.78 In some test scores and reports have shown that in a few cases, Cuba
has scored better than the United States.79
Conclusion.
Cuban education is successful because it creates a strong sense of nationalism to
maintain the governments socialistic agenda and is able to produce workers with specialized
skills. What the education system had to overcome, has been successful. Father Jose Agustin
Caballeros idea of educating all Cubans held true in the 1959 revolution. Education has always
been one of the main goals of the regime to gain support and give the opportunity to any Cuban
73
75
76
Anders Breidlid, Cubas Battle of Ideas The Education System and The Revolution, 629-630.
77
Anders Breidlid, Education in Cuba an Alternative Educational Discourse: Lessons to be Learned?, 629-630.
78
79
Anders Breidlid, Education in Cuba an Alternative Educational Discourse: Lessons to be Learned?, 630-631.
74
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who wanted it. The literacy campaign, free education, updating classrooms, and using the most
of what little they had are all examples of success stories. Cuban people wanted to be educated,
and their government wanted to educate them to support the new anti-imperialist regime. The
high cost it took to keep the education system working efficiently has not been done without its
struggles. Dependence on the Soviet Union for economic up keep in the classroom eventually
wore away, but in the end, the Cuban education system has survived all of the challenges it has
faced. The Cuban education system will not be going away anytime soon.
Anderson 16
References
Wolf, S., Penton, F. H., Marin, A. B. and Romero, O. (2011). The Cuban Vocational Education
and Training System and Its Current Changes. Journal For Critical Education Policy
Studies, 223-240.
Anders Breidlid. (Oct. 2007). Education in Cuba an Alternative Educational Discourse: Lessons
to be Learned? Journal of Comparative Education, Vol 37. (issue 5). 617-634.
Bill Greenshields. (2010). Cubas Battle of Ideas The Education System and The Revolution.
Education Review. Vol 23. (Issue 1). 76-83.
Octavio J. Esqueda. (Mar. 2007). Theological Higher Education in Cuba: Part 3 The Cuban
Revolution. Christian Higher Education. Vol 6. 89-108.
Tom G. Griffiths. (Dec. 2009). Fifty Years of Socialist Education in Revolutionary Cuba: A
World-Systems Perspective. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research. Vol 15.
(Issue 2). 45-64.
Elvira Martin Sabina and Mariana Ortega Brena. Thoughts on Cuban Education. Latin American
Perspectives. Vol 36. (Issue 2). 135-137.
Ricardo Alarcon. (Jul. 2011). Cuba Education and Revolution. An Independent Socialist
Magazine. Vol. 63. (Issue 3). 136-142.
Lavinia Gasperini. (Jul 2000). The Cuban Educational System: Lessons and Dilemmas.
Education Reform and Management Publication Series. Vol. 1. (Issue 5).

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Cuban Education: A Success Story by Broc Anderson is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 International License.

CUBAN EDUCATION: A SUCCESS STORY

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Ricardo Alacorn, Cuba Education and Revolution, 136.

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

Cuban Education: A Success Story

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