The first session of the Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Environment commission included discussion of current efforts to improve the functioning of People's Power bodies.
Deputy Andrés Castro Alegría, commission president, reported on steps being taken in the process, including support to the work of municipal delegates and assemblies, broadening of opportunities for community participation, as well as the updating of leadership work methods and styles.
Deputies then took the floor and Mirta Millán, from the Isle of Youth Special Municipality, called for continued work on developing institutionality, and the fundamental role of deputies in perfecting the People's Power system.
Legislator Miguel Limia, from the Granma municipality of Campechuela, highlighted the importance of popular participation in budget decisions, and the need for provincial assemblies to be well informed on how tax income is used. He insisted that the budget process must be increasingly participative, and communities involved in the economic restructuring of their territory, while referring to the "abysmal difference" between productive potential and real results, especially in terms of contracts with state wholesalers. He noted that the amount of land awarded to producers in usufruct has not increased production to the level expected, while calling for more accurate planning.
Later, commission members heard a report on the process of admitting students to higher education for the 2016-2017 academic year, by René Sánchez, director of admissions and placement for the ministry. He indicated that the percentage of students passing entrance exams, during the first two testing sessions held thus far, is expected to be 73 to 75 %.
The awarding of requested areas of study is advancing well in the technical and medical fields, while more interest must be generated in Pedagogy, Mathematics, and Physics, he said.
Admissions to recently transformed alternative higher education programs, with nighttime and weekend classes, have reached 53,909, as compared to only 2,000 in the past, he reported, while some 3,670 students will be enrolled in distance learning.
Sánchez emphasized that while the expansion of these alternatives was a significant accomplishment, the focus now is on ensuring quality and meeting the needs of provinces for a qualified workforce.
Also participating in the commission were the ministers of Education; Higher Education; and Science, Technology and Environment: Ena Elsa Velázquez Cobiella, Rodolfo Alarcón Ortiz, and Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, respectively.
