Over 1,792,600 students are expected to fill classrooms as the 2015-2016 school year begins on Tuesday, September 1.
This week teachers return to work, marking an important stage to finalize details, Minister of Education Ena Elsa Velázquez Cobiella explained at a press conference.
She added that this year the essential objective of raising the quality of the educational process continues apace, not only in reference to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of different activities, but to the formation and development of values reflected in appropriate behavior of students both within and outside of educational institutions.
“The conditions created so fararesuperior to those of theprevious yearin terms ofresources,teachercoverage…” Velázquez Cobiella noted, having toured the country, evaluating the conditions in each province in the run up to September 1.
She added that during the month of August, plans have been implemented to ensure the distribution of school materials, a rather complicated process given the over 10,350 educational institutions that will offer studies this academic year.
This year, the education sector was provided with $17.5 million dollars to import materials for the start of the school year, such as pencils, watercolors, notebooks, craft materials, scissors, rubbers, etc.
Special attention has been paid to the structural situation of educational institutions, with construction works carried out where necessary. 150 Physics, Chemistry and Biology laboratories were also installed across high schools towards the end of the previous school year.
Catering to the current demographics of the country, this year there are more than 2,700 new places at preschool day care centers and a further 6,494 at part-time boarding schools.
For this September, 95.2% of the territorial demand for teachers is expected to be met without resorting to alternatives. Several provinces have improved their situation by focusing on contracts for fourth and fifth year university students as teaching assistants.
12.7 million copies of 188 of the 247 books featured on the national curriculum have been distributed across the country. Redistribution centers are also working to ensure that students have access to all the necessary texts for the new year.
The Minister also emphasized that the continued training of teachers remains a priority, particularly in the subject of history, with support from the National Union of Historians of Cuba, televised classes and lectures, seminars on methodological preparation and other measures.
New materials have also been developed, such as the Historia Patria collection, as well as 15 virtual museums developed by the CINESOFT company under the Ministry of Education.
Velázquez Cobiella insisted on the importance of the inauguration of this new school year and the commitment of all linked to the educational process.
