Home Schooled Toddlers

The program called "Educate Your Child" attempts to teach children the basics in preparation for primary school. Facilitators school parents on how to school children at home. This education augments preschools, which not all children attend--due to space limitations and parental preferences.

Entrenchments of Ideas are Worth more than Entrenchments of Stone

Trincheras de ideas valen mas que trincheras de piedra.

This famous quote from the national hero, José Martí, serves as the standard of the Frederich Engels Printing Company. Its meaning is somewhat analogous to “the pen is mightier than the sword”. It valorizes Cuban culture and education and political ideology as great weapons in the “Battle of Ideas” with capitalism. Adopting the quote from Martí may intend to draw a historic link between the thoughts of the late 19th century and current Cuban social policy that favors education and cultural programs. That said, the massive role of the Cuban military in the society and the economy may belie the rhetorical discounting of “stone embattlements”.

Revolutionary Training

The motto of the Union of Young Communists is "Study, Work, Rifle". Seriously.

Mex med students just became most popular on campus

Thanks to advocacy by Mexico's workers party, DF will now give $300/month to every Mexican student in Cuba.

Turning Living Rooms into Classrooms

With many schools damaged by the hurricanes, families are opening their doors to displaced students. Some teachers are now giving classes in the confines of a neighbor's living room.

A longtime leader of the Cuban revolution, Armando Hart Dávalos, notes that this recent invention by necessity is the intertwining of three main pillars of society: family, community, and school.

Former Teachers Unretire to Fill Posts Left Empty By Diminished Labor Force

As economic dearth renders pregnancy unappealing, deaths continue to out pace births in Cuba.

The depleted population structure is unable to reproduce the workforce to fill the positions vacated by retirees.

Add to that the fact that some Havana residents tend to opt out of formal state employment (due to official material benefits being less attractive than the informal economic opportunities derived from inputs of tourist dollars in the capitol city). Willing professionals--namely police, teachers and construction workers--must be imported from the provinces.

In order to close the deficit in teachers--which may or may not be near 8,000--new legal provisions encourage retired teachers to return to the classroom by letting them earn a salary while still receiving their monthly pension.

Building Revolution

Before the hurricanes, Cuba had a housing shortage of around half a million dwellings. The natural disasters destroyed or damaged over a third of a million homes. Thats a current shortfall nearing a million houses.

In a move to redouble sheltering efforts (where materials are available), the Ministry of Construction is offering to train anybody who wants to learn the building trade.

The all-hands-on-deck modus operandi will not only focus on erecting homes, but also on repairing hotels in time for the peak mid-winter tourism season, as well as on concretizing ALBA-related projects.

The ministry's motto is "Construction is Revolution".

Cuba A&M

"Majoring in farming."

To meet internal food security needs in the face of rising international grain prices, and in concert with proposed legislation to distribute fallow land, Cuba's universities are placing increased emphasis on training people in agricultural science and related technical fields.