Education in Cuba: Foundations and challenges

This article discusses the importance of education for any nation and for Cuba in particular, examining its political, pedagogical and sociological foundations, and portraying its accomplishments over the last 50 years. The principles underlying the educational policy of the Cuban government are explained, as they underpin the mission of the National Education System (NES) to carry forward educational work in the country. The essay also depicts each of the subsystems that comprise the NES and ensure the fulfillment of the key educational goals: to educate the new generations and the people as a whole in a scientific conception of the world; to develop fully their intellectual, physical and spiritual skills; to promote high aesthetic tastes and feelings; and to convert communist ideological, political and moral principles into personal convictions and daily habits of conduct, with the participation of school, family and society as a whole. The essay also presents the changes that are currently being made in the Ministry of Education with the participation of administrators, principals, teachers, students and other social agents, to continuously raise the quality of its results.

Education; Development; Comprehensive education; Values