the basic secondary school in the country: an educational...

Experiments and innovations in education No. 7

8 > *

The 'basic secondary school in the country:

innovation in Cuba

by Max Figueroa Abel Prieto Raul Gutierrez Educational Development Centre. Havana

Study prepared for the , , . International Bureau

of Education

The Unesco Press - Paris 1974

Published in 1974 by The Unesco Press 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris, France

ISBN 92-3-101 171-5 French edition ISBN 92-3-201 171-9 Spanish edition ISBN 92-3-301171-2

Printed in the workshops of Unesco Printed in France

0 Unesco 1974 [Bl

Preface

That educational revolution is the result and at the same time the means of establishing and consolidating the social revolution is revealed clearly at each step by this Campo. But that this educational revolution, in the particular case of Cuba, brings together and synthesizes almost totally the aspirations of youth and those of the collectivity towards the building of a better society, both from the point of view of material achievements and from that of the harmonious development of all individual potentialities - this, beyond ideological considera- tions and whatever attitudes and value judgements we may adopt with regard to the Cuban experiment - cannot fail to inspire profound reflexion on the way in which changes occur in education systems. Taken in the social context as a whole, education as a sub-system inevitably reacts to social changes as they occur. It can do so in various ways according to their nature, their intensity and their depth. which the impetus of reform provokes in certain social climates, educational innovation varies not only in degree but also, and above all, in character: from hostile resistance to change -which is still one way of reacting - to the far-reaching transformation which completely overthrows the aims, means, structures, methods and content of the whole education system.

The study on 'the basic secondary school in the country' for which we are indebted to Mr. Max Figueroa, Director of the Educa- tional Development Centre, Mr. Raul Gutidrrez, Director of Research at the same Centre, and Mr. Abel Prieto, Director-General of the Technical Education Department, immediately confronts us with one of those extreme cases where everything in the education system constitutes a break, not only with the past, but also with what exists elsewhere. the school community with the rural community, educational development with the country's economic, social and cultural development, the formation of intellectual faculties with that of moral, social, physical and aesthetic faculties, the adolescent age group with the

study on the Escuela en el

Through the gradual and superficial acclimatization

To integrate productive work with school work,

I11

adult one, all this in a comprehensive vision of the new man and of a society confident in its future, this situates the Cuban experiment not in any ordinary category of educational innovations but in what might be called a truly innovatory reform.

The reader, according to his particular point of view, will certainly have the most varied and diverging attitudes towards the way in which the authors approach their analysis and especially with regard to the ideology which forms the background to the whole experiment. of education, it gives the new educational experiment all the greater consistency and coherence. For beyond the slogans, abstract concepts or nebulous figments of the imagination, there remains something which imposes itself on the observation and stands up to the most critical evaluation, namely, man's achievement in his own environment, which he actualizes within himself. It is to this that we invite the readers' attention, leaving the authors the entire responsibility for their ideological or political perspectives.

Since the aim of the IBE, through these studies and beyond individual cases, is to uncover the mechanism of change in education, so provoking thought and, in a climate of healthy emulation, giving impulse to the imagination of those responsible for education, may we venture to predict, as a tribute to Mr. Max Figueroa, Mr. Raul Gutidrrez and Mr. Abel Prieto, as well as to the whole team at the Havana Educational Development Centre to which they belong, that this study will offer ample food for thought for all who are interested in educational innovations.

Although they do not necessarily represent the views of Unesco, the ideas contained in this study will not fail to provoke and give substance to a fruitful dialogue between those who today find themselves faced with the dilemma engendered, on the one hand, by the demands of the quantitative and qualitative development of education and, on the other, by the constraint of human and financial resources which economic realities impose in a greater number of countries, particularly in developing countries.

The most striking aspect of the Cuban experiment lies, perhaps, in the veritable feat not only of instituting a system of self- financing and self-management of education, but also of making the school a lever for the process of the economic, social and cultural development of the region. There is certainly something here for the planners, but also psychologists, sociologists and educators cannot fail to judge the extent to which well-thought-out goals can inspire deep and lasting motivations in the young and the less

IV

Whether it be a political ideology or a real philosophy

young, so that not only are the immediate objectives fully achieved but also a radical change in young people's attitudes offers a glimpse of the beginning of a cumulative process of which the outcome can scarcely be surmised.

V

Table of contents

Introduction p. 1 I. The school confronts the countryside p. 9

I .

2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

11 .

The educational situation (1959-1973) : difficulties, achievements and deficiencies p. 9 Study and labour: first steps p. 10 An early educational experiment p. 12 The structure of the system p. 13 The basic secondary school in the countryside in relation to the whole system p. 14 Principles of the basic secondary school in the countryside p. 15 School administration p. 26 School year and school timetable p. 29 Curriculum p. 31 Building p. 40 Pedagogical research on the secondary schools in the countryside p. 42

11. Conclusions p. 45

VI I

Introduction

Cuba is a poor country which, following the triumph of its revolution, has put in hand infrangible plans of economic and social development directed to meeting the imperious material and spiritual aspirations of its people after a hundred years of struggle for the achievement of national independence.

Interwoven with the history of the century required for full national liberation and closely linked to the moulding of Cuban nationality in its hundred years' gestation is the development of a conceptual line of positive pedagogic thinking by great Cuban educators of the epoch.

approach dominant in education, characteristic of a situation which faithfully represented the great negative pedagogic tradition established by the Spanish home country in its Cuban colony.

These great Cuban educators of the 19th century, notably JosG Agustcn Caballero, FElix Varela, JosB de la Luz y Caballero, Rafael Maria-Mendive and Enrique JosB Varona in their general arguments advocated a more rational education of a scientific and experimental character. This progressive developing line culminated in the most universal and revolutionary of our great thinkers and patriots, the master and apostle of our independence, JosB Mart; (1853-95).

but proclaims the necessity for 'our America' - Latin America - of a scientific education which takes as its starting point the realities of our economic problem situation as underdeveloped countries whose wealth or resources are pre-eminently agricultural. But Martz's pedagogical thinking goes deeper conceptually in postulating the need to end the existing divorce in education between theory and practice, study and work, intellectual work and manual work and for this he argues for the fusion of these activities in schools' educational work. In this connexion it is appropriate to quote passages culled from Martz's extensive though dispersed writings in which his lively pedagogic thinking is represented:

These men tenaciously combated the scholastic and metaphysical

Mart: not only upholds scientific education like his predecessors

1

Po educate is to make evew man the depositom of a77 *he works of men before him, an up-to-date epitome of the living world; it is to raise him to the level of his era so that he can stay on top of it and not to leave him below the level of his age where he can never get on top; it is to prepare the individual for Zife ... simplest of analogies: for the birds, wings; for the fish, fins; for Man living in the midst of nature, knowledge of nuture - which represents his wings. And the only means of giving him his wings is to make the scientific element as it were the back- bone of the system of public education; let science teaching like the sap in the trees, run from the roots to the summit of public education. Let elementary education have its meed of elementaq science.. . . theologfcal universities. university.. . . of scientific study in the literary universities but only with the creation of scientific universities without thereby abolish- ing the literary.. . . America: in natiom Ziving a%/ost entirely off the products of the countryside, the education given is exclusively for life in cities, with no preparation for the life of the field.. . . ... to study modern agriculture in the prosperous farmlands; to pass a harvest or harvests living in the farms ... wide hat and loose blouse of the ploughman at the actual p20ugh's tail.. . .

Phvsical, mental and moral benefits come from manual work ... Man grows with the work of his hands. ... and behind each school an agricultural workshop opened in rain and sun where each student may plant a tree .... it is not dry pages of mere printed Tine, which bring forth the fruits of life ... The teaching of agrzculture is more urgent than ever but ... in agricultural stations where they do not describe the parts of the plough but show them on the plough and handle the plough; and the composition of the soil is not explained by blackboard

Divorcing man from the soil is a monstrous crime. It is the

The Na.7 World, needs a netl university. In the Age of Faith, In the Age of Science, a scientific

And the reform is not complete with the incorporation of courses

An error of the utmost gravity is being commit-ted in Latin

... we must reach the point of learning these things clad in the

Here as everywhere the problem consis-h in planting the seed.

2

fomzae but in the actuaZ fieZds.

debased within a few generations to the point where they are mere porcelain figures with dainty perfumed hands and feet shod in patent leather. his work or has filled his Zife with the creation and transformation of forces and the exercise of his own energies is bright-eyed, vivid of speech and steady of hand. is these last who make the world.

springs of water: it is work.

should be used there in the afternoon, but in the morning the hoe.

itsel? a schooz.

But Cuban education had to endure the persistence of the scholas-

One can readiZy see how people of leisure are weakened and

fiereas the man who owes his well-being to

Obviously it

There is onZy one magic wand at woose stroke all rocks yield

The term schoo2.s shouZd not be used, but workshops;

A city is blameworthy for as long as the whoZe of it is not in

Let every man learn to do some item of what the others need.

tic and metaphysical tradition €or more time yet -more than half the present century - in the course of which there was also an irruption of educational notions and practices derived from positiv- ism and pragmatism which, essentially, made no change in the up- bringing given to the children of those years and, further, fitted in well with the situation which obtained during the mock republic (1902-58). It was not until the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, in January 1959, that the ideas of Mart: secured full acceptance. It is not a mere coincidence that it was in fact the present Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government, Commandant Fidel Castro Ruz who, even before the revolution's triumph, proclaimed, alike in the political programme which he drew up in connexion with the 'assault m the Moncada' (26 July 1953) and in his apologia 'La His- toria ma Absolver$,' drafted during the proceedings against him. that Josh Mart< was the intellectual instigator of the act for which he was being tried and that all the combatants who took part in that historic action were a section of youth worthily ting the centenary of the apostle of Cuba.

Cuban Revolution, the leadership has repeatedly pointed to the need of a new personality training for the coming generation of Cubans as part of the effort for the building of the socialist society.

The application of the principle of combining training, study and work in our education system coupled with attention to the

commemora-

Throughout the whole period covered by the current phase of the

3

ideological development of our youth has been posited as the basis of that trend. These repeated exnortations, summated in the thesis 'El trabajo ha de ser el gran pedagogo de la juventud' (Work must be the chief teacher of the young) (Fidel Castro, 1962), have been accompanied by reminders of the need to turn our eyes to the countryside -without neglecting the towns - as the source of our wealth. reality - of the scientific and technological revolution in the country's agricultural, livestock and industrial production (with all the involvements and obligations which that implies for the national education system insofar as its integration with the national socio-economic development plan is concerned) has been the guiding star for the Cuban Revolution.

Briefly, it can be claimed that in essence all these pedagogical arguments of the following basic factors:

productive work as an element for moulding the new man and its

The accomplishment - starting from that concrete

are at one in acknowledging the high educational impact

consequent practice in the Communist education of the coming generation;

the responsible and systematic participation of youth in the building of the new society by its association with the economic and social development plans set in motion by the Revolution;

the accomplishment of the scientific and technological revolution, especially in the rural areas, within the concrete context of the problems of industrial, agricultural and livestock production, with the transformations which that implies as regards the improvement of the conditions of material and social life of the peasant, eternally elbowed aside by the old society. In other words 'the school confronts the countryside'.

In pursuit of this educational policy, and in its initial phases consisting in large-scale mobilization of the people, and in particular of the youth and student brigades for voluntary work on the country's agricultural and industrial plans, there is one man who cannot be left unmentioned - Commandant Ernest0 Che Guevera. Both for the role he played by his personal example and for his impact by speeches and pedagogic theses on the training of the new man he remains one of the chief promoters of the movement.

the place which education and the schools are called on to take in

This is the form of education which best fits a younger generation preparing itself for Communism - the form in which work loses the obsessive character which it has in the capitalist

4

worZd and becomes a welcome social duty which is carried out joyfully, which is carried out to the sound of revolutionary songs in an ambiance of the most fraternal comradeship, of human contacts which strengthen both parties to them and elevate all. But the full crystalization or materialization which brought

the fulfilment of these aspirations and objectives of Cuban revolutionary education - after travelling a long road not without difficulties and the acquisition of valuable experience - took place in the 1968-69 school year with the organization, construction and opening of the first 'basic secondary school in the countryside'. This was the historic culmination of the different conceptual lines of the progressive Cuban pedagogical tradition and their marriage with the universal principles of Marxism: the combination of Marti's ideas with Marx's theses on education, study and work.

Better than anything we could write in this connexion are the words of the Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government in a speech at the inauguration of one of the first basic secondary schools in the countryside on 7 January 1971. to this introduction, some extracts are reproduced below:

By way of conclusion

. . . this schoo Z is a response to ideas about pedagogics, to reaZities, to necessities. It is a response to notions about pedagogy in Zine with the profound Marxist thought which con- ceives of education, nf the training of men as joined with productive, with creative work; in Zine with the traditionaZ ideas of our country, in Zine with the vision of Mart; who also prefigured schools of this type .... and this type of schooZ fih the concrete possibi Zities of mou Zding man: the concrete possibiZ- ities of combininp education, study and work. It is not as yet strictZy a speciaZist schooz. No, here the young wiz2 not 'study agrieuZture'. It is a schooZ in which they begin to carry on productive activities, to create materia2 goods with their own hands, to carry out productive manuaZ work in addition to their inteZZectuaZ work, That is to say they begin to Zearn and understand h m the material goods needed by man are produced; they begin to acquire the habit of work as the most natura2 and the most elementary duty of every citizen concurrently with habits of study. In this type of school they further acquire a basic genera2 education with practicaZ work in the laboratories, clubs and with some research activity. education and general cuZture. The inte Z Zigence deve Zops;

with science They acquire genera2

5

information is acquired; the cuZturaZ sphere grows broader in a Z Z aspects. So that in our judgement, we have here a school of an aZZ- round nature in a phase of the education of the young preceding the passage to higher studies, i.e. to the TechnoZogicaZ Insti- tutes where some specia Zist training atreadg begins. We have just finished the census of the population. And out of 8.5 millions more or less, there are about 3.5 millions under 16 who consume cZothes, footwear and food; who must be housed; who must be educated, for whom books must be produced; for whose educationaz, material, euZtura2 and reereationaz needs and for whose health enormous manpower resources must be earmarked. And this we have to do in the context of an economy in which most of the production is effected essentially 'by hand'. In this situation we have no alternative. We cannot, on the strength of these material Zimitations, set limits in education as weZl. stop educating 50 or 60 per cent of them? Do we educate only 30 or 40 per cent and Zeave the rest illiterate? Is anything of this kind conceivable in the worZd today? Can we cut short the education of even one of this country's children? From the human point of vim it would not be equitabZe. the human point of v i m it would be discriminatory. human and the social viewpoint alike it would be infinitely painful; and from the economic viewpoint absurd from the point of vim of the country's future; tomorrm it is impossibte. That being so how do we resolve these problems, taking into account our material limitations and the need to make schooling effective, to educate all the children and young people of the country? We cannot continue increasing the numbers of this kind of institution if coneurrentZy we do not link this universal education programme with productive activities. to being an infrangible pedagogical principZe, a social and human necessity, it is further a necessity for our country's development - if we are to achieve universal education and in spite of the fact that we are not a rich country - also to draw these newcomers, these miZlions of young peopZe, as they reach a selected age, into the productive activities appropriate for secondary, for middle and for higher education.

What do we do with the youth of the eountry? Do we

From From the

in terms of the worZd of

So that, in addition

6

We have established as a prindple t3ie aim of universal schooling and of the universalizatson of schooling, higher education in- cluded. But for this there is an inescapable requisite, nameZy the habit and elementary duty of participation by the whole society, from a given age, in productive activities, without creating in practice the oZd separation between manuaZ and inteZZectuaZ work. We cannot turn out a type of technician, a type of professionaz man, a type of citizen who wiz2 despise manuaZ work because there wiz2 aZways be manuaZ work in society as there wiz2 aZways be inteZZectuaZ work and we do not wish to have some of us 'working cZass' pariahs and others unhappy Prisoners of excZusiveZy inteZZectuaZ work: if we view things aright, the man who onZy has inteZZectuaZ work to do and who never has a chance to use his hands wouZd automaticaZZy be an unnaturaZ being because physicaZ work is an eZement of what we might ea22 a quasi-bioZogicaZ need of the human being. The societies of the past condemned the individuaZ either to excZusiveZy manuaZ or to excZusiveZy inteZZectua2 work.. . . On that account if w e are traveZZing towards a goaZ which we consider essentiaZ for a peopZe in the worZd today nameZy, the universaZization of knowZedge up to the highest ZeseZs, it is necessary simuZtaneousZy to create in aZZ citizens from earZiest youth the habit of doing their share of manuaZ workbut further of producing and producing! tion impossibZe to resoZve in a poor country Zike ours. On that account our goaZ is for aZZ young peopZe, from around the age of 12, from their entry into this type of institution, to pZay a part in productive activities and for the higher ZeveZs to do the same. Thus the technoZogicaZ institute, i.e. the ZeveZ above this, wiz2 be linked to industria2 production; and on the same principZe we shaZZ endeavour to have the young men or women in that phase get both the genera2 theoreticaZ training and the practicaZ activities in the productive fieZd according to the speciazity for which he is training. So that higher middZe education wiz2 aZso be Zinked with productive activities. Today its students pZay a part in those activities but often what they are doing is unconnected with their speciaZity prsciseZy because of our need for Zarge Zabour forces in the sugar-eane plantations. people wiz2 participate in those activities related to the specia Zities they are studying.

Otherwise there QouZd be a contradic-

But in the future young

7

In proportion as our system of schooling grows better, in proportion as we have more teachers avaiZable, as we improve the quaZity and effectiveness of ow" schooZing, the percentage of children reaching secondary education wiz2 be greater. of n m we could not say definitely h m many of our 950,000 are going to reach that Zevel. If in seven years time 700,000 young people should reach it, we would need not less than 1,500 schooZs Eke this. gronme of this kind and to ask ourselves h m a country which is not rich cuuld carry such a programme forward. Thus we cannot continue our growth in socia2 services of this type if each step forward is not cZoseZy bound in with productive activities. go on creating as many as are needed to the extent that these schools aZso are tied in with productive activiw.

As

We need to imagine the cost of an educational pro-

Meaning that we can create schools of this type and

8

I. The school confronts the countrvside

'In countries such as ours there must be a thorough-going revolution in education if we do not wish to see them - as some are already - perpetua2 Zy distorted, wasted and deformed, Zike the Horatian monster - with a gigantic head and an immense heart, trailing its fZagging feet, its withered arms a22 skin and bone I.

Jos6 Marti

1. THE EDUCATIONAL SITUATION (1 959-1 973) : DIFFICULTIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND DEFICIENCIES

The provision of education for all has been the fundamental objective of the Revolutionary Government since January 1959. in terms of the quantitative short-fall, was enormous: 600,000 children with no school facilities, a million people completely illiterate, an average of 2.6 school grades successfully passed by young people from 15 to 24, a school attendance rate of less than 60 per cent, an absence of any vertically linked structure in general education, the underdeveloped state of technical and vocational education and its lack of relevance to the country's economy, a lack of balance in university enrolments, with very few students in the science and technology sections, extremely poor educational materials, completely obsolete educational techniques and technology and an administrative corruption that permeated all sectors of education. Concurrently with the administrative 'clean-up' and the radical economic and social changes that were introduced, a vast movement towards the renewal of education was launched.

A two and a half times increase in primary education enrolments, a six-fold increase in the numbers of basic secondary level pupils, the establishment of a carefully integrated national education structure, the re-organization and expansion of technical and vocational education and university reform, the execution of the national

The task,

9

literacy campaign and the introduction of a functional system of adult education and a massive scholarship scheme all meant that there was a tremendous expansion of educational services of all types and at all levels of instruction in our country. At the same time a great effort was made to raise the level of efficiency of the education system. Systematic in-service training courses were provided for primary and secondary teachers, curricula and syllabuses were reformed, there was a substantial improvement in school attendance and an increase in the retention rate, parents and organizations began to participate in the educational process through school councils, and the elements of polytechnical education were introduced as an important part of the training of the rising generation.

involved in education reveals problems that have not yet been solved, and we are therefore compelled to go on seatching for solu- tions that are consonant with our economic and social situation and our development aspirations. Problems such as the following are still unsolved: over half a million educationally backward children,a low retention rate at some levels of education; a substantial percentage of teachers who have not had a sound professional training; insufficient educational materials and suitable school buildings; discrepancy between our resources and the bound- less education aspirations of our people. Many of these problems are inherent in the explosive and necessary expansion of education; some are the effect of the dead weight of cultural, social and economic underdevelopment. Others are due to our lack of experience.

This involves strengthening the administrative machinery, recruit- ing more highly qualified primary and secondary school teachers, increasing considerably the number of school buildings and the supply of educational materials, wholeheartedly applying the principle that education is the duty and the right of all and, in particular, adopting the policy of combining intellectual and manual work at all levels and in every type of education.

This last concept, which is so fundamental to Cuban education, has been gaining substance with the progress of the revolution.

Despite the success achieved, analysis of the complex issues

We have faced the necessity of a radical revolution in education.

2. STUDY AND LABOUR: FIRST STEPS

Since 1962, tens of thousands of scholarship pupils have gone to the Oriente mountains to harvest the coffee crop. From that year on,

10

secondary school pupils began to undertake productive work in indus- try and farming, on a non-systematic basis, for part of the week- ends, during school holidays, or at stages of urgent manpower demand, in production.

In May 1964, Resolution 392 on polytechnical education was passed. It contains the following provisions : 'The building of a new society in our country, which must be carried out through productive and creative work, requires from those who are to participate in it and consolidate it a new attitude to life, which will find practical expression in love for work and respect for the worker - the most important feature of the ethical outlook of the people in this new society.

'Love for work and respect for the worker do not occur spontane- ously; if run on the proper principles, is of the utmost importance in that it can do much to establish the new socialistic morality and to produce the new man and the new society, for whom labour, as Marx put it, must be the constant and natural condition of life.

they are the result of a complex process. The school,

'This implies that school activities must be organized in such a way as to promote the establishment of close links between education and life, since education based on experience of life is the most effective, and the only kind that is possible in a society which has embarked on the construction of socialism.

'Polytechnical education is to be understood as instruction that will give pupils a knowledge of the scientific principles on which the fundamental branches of production are based, accustom them to handling basic tools which are common to all these branches, and provide them with the opportunity of learning basic skills and practices.

'In order to develop the polytechnical education programmes and at the same time combine physical labour with intellectual work and both of these with life, three types of work will be developed; educational work, productive work and socially useful work.

This Resolution laid down the basic principles of polytechnical education and made provision for the first operative measures to be taken in order to establish it. it was being introduced throughout the entire education system, but

There was no implication that

1 1

the legal premises for its development were established.

3. AN EARLY EDVCAYIONAL EXPERIMENT

From 23 April to 29 May 1966 - a period of 35 days - an experiment known as 'the school to the countryside', was carried out for the first time in farms in the Camagky province. Students and teachers from basic secondary schools and pre-university institutions were asked to volunteer for productive work in agriculture. thousand day-students living in the Camagcey province itself vol- unteered, along with about ten thousand scholarship holders from the capital of the Republic; on the plantations or in recently built premises in the various production units of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA).

The social aims of the 'school to the countryside' experiment were clearly defined; it was to produce a new kind of man, imbued with love of his country, ready for reform and desirous of increasing the wealth of the community, realizing the value of labour and prizing it, honourable, devoted and steadfast. More specifically, its aims were to remove the disparity between town and country, to establish close links between school and life, to educate the rising generation for work by actually working and, in line with a common objective, to demand the highest possible standards while respect- ing the personality of the pupils. An attempt was also to be made to ascertain how far the experiment impeded or fostered assimilation of knowledge, which is the object of learning.

basis in basic general secondary schools, higher secondary schools and technical and vocational establishments, and today it is an integral part of the school timetable Analysis of the timetable for the 1972-73 school year shows that the country's basic secondary schools spend seven weeks on production work. They do not all leave for the country at the same time; secondary schools being fixed in view of the productive work they are to do, the number of camps available and production needs.

atic, organized integration of young people into production work, is regarded today as a transitional institution, a stage in the process of establishing what has been called, because of its nature and organization, the 'school in the countryside', which is the subject of this paper.

Some seven

the latter were accommodated in quarters

This experiment has been gradually introduced on a systematic

of more than 230,000 students.

four separate periods are arranged, the dates €or the basic

The 'school to the countryside', the term we use for the system-

The principle of combining study and work is already observed throughout the whole of the educational process, from the primary to the university level. necessary part of the training of future generations. We realize that the most advanced ideology has no real power unless it determines the standards of daily life, and as production relations evolve, work Is undoubtedly the best way of teaching young people. Lenin said: 'The creation of a new discipline of work, new forms of social relations among people, new ways and means of attracting people to work, is a task that will take many years, even decades. It is the most rewarding and noble of tasks'. And in order to inculcate the communist mentality among the vast mass of the workers, this task must be commenced at an early age.

From the most elementary classes, Cuban children will learn to love work and respect the worker, but they will also learn to produce by tending the school vegetable plots. Production is an activity of great ideological power, from early childhood and throughout the worker's whole life.

It is essential to development and a

4. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM

The different: stages of general education nay be represented as follows: P-6-4-3-U (P: pre-school education; 6: primary education; 4: basic secondary education; 3: pre-university education; U: higher education). grades but Cuba is making a great effort to extend the period of school attendance. Its practical aim is to raise the upper age limit for compulsory education to the age when the young person begins his employment (17 years). Technical education, which is closely linked with economic development plans, leads to two professional levels of qualification - that of skilled worker and that of middle-level technician - corresponding to the 2nd and 3rd grades of the basic secondary course respectively. A student who holds the middle-level technician's qualification can go on to technological studies at a university. can be taken in any one of seven faculties, which include 28 schools providing 78 different courses, The faculties are: Tech- nology, Science, Medicine, Agriculture, Humanities, and the In- stitutes of Economics and Education.

gith a minimum of 44 hours of study a day (urban and rural sectors).

Education is legally compulsory for the elementary

Higher education courses

The school year at the primary level consists of 36 five-day weeks,

13

At the secondary level there are 45 weeks in the school year. Six weeks of the basic secondary programme are spent in doing agricultural work - the 'school to the countryside' period. In the case of pre-university education, this period is of ten weeks' duration.

The combination of intellectual and manual work is becoming general practice from the first year of the courses in technological institutes and in. the universities, depending on the circumstances and nature of each institution and the type of education it provides. Adult education is aimed at raising the educational level of workers and peasants, advising institutes that enable workers to obtain a higher education, and organizing language schools and schools for young people who are very backward educationally, i.e. those who have dropped out of the normal school system.

Elementary education for adults consists of four courses. The secondary section comprises an introductory secondary course and four courses, run by the Worker-Peasant Preparatory Faculty (Facul- tad Obrera y Campesina, FOC). The Youth 'Movement (Movimiento Juvenil) is developing special classes and workshop-schools; in all cases it co-ordinates its activities with national production centres.

5. THE BASIC SECONDARY SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRYSIDE IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE SYSTEM

The basic secondary education level corresponds to the first stage of general secondary education, i.e. grades 7,8,9 and 10 of what may be regarded as ten-grade basic general education, the starting point for secondary level vocational training in the context of national educational development.

which, during the 1972-73 academic year, are catering for 11 per cent of the young people enrolled in the first part of secondary education. Several years' experimentation preceded their introduction, and now there is a wide network of such schools. As in all other schools at this level, education in basic secondary schools is both general and polytechnical, and covers all subjects. But the organization and other features of this special type of school are unusual in that its pupils; mainly from urban districts, are boarders, they combine study and work systematically during the whole school year, and their activities always form part of an economic development plan; but they are not cut off from their families, since every weekend is spent at home.

14

Basic Oecondary schools in the countryside are secondary schools

The basic secondary School

in the countryside is an important educational innovation, in that it provides excellent conditions for the achievement of the specific objectives of a new society.

6. PRINCIPLES OF THE BASIC SECONDARY SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

If we examine the formulation and development of the ideas underlying the basic secondary school in the countryside, we shall be able to appreciate the immense importance of this educational innovation. First of all, it is an experiment that is already af- fecting a wide area of secondary education, and it will be extended on a large scale throughout the whole country, as it is of itself a factor contributing to development. In the second place, the organization of the school and the education it provides are based on scientific educational principles. Let us examine its underlying principles. The principZe of edueation within the community. work in the community is a vital factor in producing social con- sciousness. The basic secondasy school in the countryside is organized in such a way that the pupils regularly participate in various forms of communal activity. They are grouped into organized work brigades; they carry out their camp duties as members of a team; they evaluate their intellectual and physical work in as- semblies and meetings attended by all; they form sports teams and art groups; they are members of the Federation of Students; in short, they are constantly engaged in the performance of communal tasks.

The capacity for hard work is developed only within the community, and if the community is organized in such a way that the individual is expected to take responsibility the results are extremely satisfactory. It is hoped that educational conditions of this kind will produce a genuine spirit of fellowship and a community outlook which is in all matters opposed to individualism and egoism. For this reason, we make a constant effort to ensure that the strongest and the weakest students co-operate in every way, so that each individual is as far as possible bound to others by human ties. The principZe of combining inte ZZectuaZ and physical work. these schools pupils become accustomed to working, which is the most natural and fundamental duty of every citizen. The school is in line with the ideas of ‘Marx and Mart:, who believed that education should be linked with productive work, schools of this kind

Practical

In

15

provide the most effective means of combining training, study and work. The old style of education, typified by the scholarship pupil, produces a pupil who is lacking in balance, a pure intellectual, an alienated individual; this was how the bourgeois classes educated their children in the past. Moreover, if the workers' children are brought up in exactly the same way as the children of the bourgeois classes in our country used to be, there is a danger that the most valuable features and qualities of the working class, which have been developed mainly through the class struggle, will be lost. Learning as part of the daily round of life is truly educative.

method of linking school with life, which has been the ideal of many educationists throughout the ages. In this way the younger generation is trained to work by working. Rationally organized work that is suited to the capacity of the pupils is the firmest foundation for moral training. As both intellectual and manual work will always exist, we do not want some to be outcasts, performing manual labour, while others are discontented, doing nothing but intellectual work. The principZe of training and the student-producer. In Cuba childrer, are encouraged to love work and respect the worker, since work is, in in itself, an important factor in the development of the personalitp: it fosters a positive attitude towards productive activity and respect for the property of the community; it stimulates initiative, perseverance and skill; and it induces profound respect for the producers of consumer goods and services. Productive work, more than any other kind of work, helps to develop a producer mentality which in our society, is necessary in order to counteract a mere consumer mentality. When a young person is producing something, he realizes that he is performing useful work, that he is producing something of social value, and this is of great educational importance. The child or youth who has watched a plant grow as a result of his care and devotion will see in its fruits the outcome of his labour, and will thus become fully aware of the value of producer goods.

have a sound knowledge of the economic development plan of which they form a part, of the educational curriculum, the school's economic activities, and the agricultural plan. It is extremely important that they should identify themselves with the role of producer.

The systematic combining of study and work is the only effective

In the basic secondary schools in the countryside, pupils must

The establishment of output standards for pupils, varying

16

according to the type of work they are doing and their age, helps them to do so. standards will have acquired training of great moral value when he comes to play an active part in a society free from exploitation. The principZe 6f universa2 education. tion available to all children and young people in the country - not merely elementary and secondary education but, ultimately, university education as well. We must not leave a single child uneducated; from the human and social aspect this would be in- equitable as well as discriminatory, and in the highest degree deplorable, and from the economic aspect it would be foolish and in flagrant contradiction with the most elementary principles of d eve lopmen t . particularly sources of energy. There is, furthermore, a definite imbalance in the population structure, since almost 42 per cent of the inhabitants are under working age and only 32 per cent of the total population is engaged in economic activity. Tf these material constraints are not to impede the provision of education for all, we must link education with productive activity. It is clearly not only a vital educational principle that students should produce goods; it is also necessary to development.

professional ('on-the-job') experience. This will enable our country to meet the enormous costs of education and public health services, which our economy cannot meet at present, yet which must be met if we are to make good the huge back-log we have in- herited and satisfy the humanist aspirations of our society. Link- ing education to production as part of the educational process, as a requirement for development and as a human and social necessity will tremendously increase our growth potential. The principle of uniting education with economic development plans. In the basic secondary schools in the countryside two factors are combined - education of a socialist type and the needs of our economic development. The construction and organization of these schools is closely bound up with agricultural production plans for citrus and other fruit, coffee and vegetables. Schools such as these, therefore, are no luxury for a small country like Cuba, for with our climatic conditions the yield of 500 hectares of citrus plantations, for example, carefully tended by the 500 young people who make up the school population in each centre, will more than cover the total cost of the school. This necessitates close

A youth who is accustomed to complying with output

Our aim is to make educa-

But our country is poor. It lacks important natural resources,

In our universities, studentts combine study with practical pre-

17

co-ordination between productive and educational activities. The official responsible for the agricultural plan is a member of the centre's governing council, while the official in charge of the centre's production is a member of the board that administers the plan.

Pupils do three hours' work in the fields each day from Monday to Friday, either in the morning or in the afternoon, according to their shift. energy and enthusiasm, the application of technology and the use of machines, are social assets that will make it possible to establish new schools and promote new economic plans. Simply by treat- ing these centres as both educational institutions and production and development centres, we have been able to plan the building of 1,200 establishments in the next ten years. The principZe of education through bringing togethep the young student and the rural worker. drift of young people from the country to the town is well known. It is in accordance with the economic law of the movement of popula- tions towards the more developed zones. The basic secondary schools in the countryside cannot exactly be said to be a movement in the opposite direction, but they do indicate that the people in general realize that our living comes essentielly from the soil and that young city-dwellers as well as young people in the country must work together in the production of material goods.

their living conditions are similar to those of the cities. Care has been taken to ensure that the changeover is not too abrupt, and that young people working in the country will find facilities of the kind provided by the town. A satisfactory cultural life helps the community to adapt itself to the new situation and to achieve complete and effective integration with the rural environment. The principle of education through acquiring th.e habit of inteZZectuaZ work. importance, from both the theoretical and the practical point of view, and particularly so in our society, where the aim is to avoid any opposition between the two types of activity. Manual labour and intellectual work are properly balanced in our education system.

There is no doubt that industrious habits are also acquired through regular intellectual work. Educational theory and practice both tell us that study is work and that knowledge is gained through effort. Active reasoning and independent thinking must predominate in our young people's intellectual work. If we succeed in establishing

The proceeds from what they produce by their

The world-wide phenomenon of the

Our young people settle down very quickly in the country, because

The pupil's intellectual work is of great

18

intelligent habits of intellectual work, we shall be able to help students to form a correct attitude to the world, to develop their feelings and their will-power and to build up an ideal of socialist life.

Study must make pupils anxious to know everything, to explain everything, and to transform the environment for the benefit of mankind. Our basic secondary schools in the countryside are equip- ped with physics, chemistry and biology laboratories, splendid workshops for technical training and industrial draughtsmanship, and modern audio-visual aids. Young teachers receive systematic advice as to general and specific teaching methods. The aim is that each pupil should be responsible for his own studies, making a systematic effort every day towards the active acquisition of knowledge. We stress this active quality, in contrast to the pas- sive assimilation of facts.

Provision is made in the school timetable for both collective and individual study, and the evaluation of educational achievement and the programme of student emulation help to eliminate faults such as undue haste and superficiality in their work. The most advanced students are encouraged, through the monitor system, to extend their help to others; they assist pupils who find difficulty with their studies. The establishment and operation of science and technology activity groups has stimulated the interest of students in scientific and technological knowledge, and they have an opportunity to extend the scope of their theoretical and practical studies in a specific subject.

If pupils are to acquire the habit of intellectual work -which is essential for the development of their ideas about the world as it really is - they must observe, understand the similarities and differencg between various objects and phenomena, be familar with the relation between cause and effect, time and space, and be able to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials. Intellectual work based on active reasoning will always develop the pupil's cognitive faculties. The princip Le of developing individual inclinations and aptitudes. TheCuban schools respect the personality of the pupil. It is true that our educational system opposes all manifestations of individualism, its most powerful weapon being education within the community. towards common objectives restricts the pupil's individuality. When a community is organized carefully and rationally, its functioning does not limit the individual development of the personality; rather

19

But it is a mistake to think that education directed

it provides ample scope for the full development of each individual’s inclinations and aptitudes. Of course when we speak of respect for the personality we are not advocating its spontaneous development, but the careful moulding of interests and needs, feelings and de- sires, volition, character traits and the various features and elements that make up the personality.

dents interested in music, dancing, drama, visual arts and literature stimulates the expression and development of the personality. Furthermore, great importance is attached to physical education and sport. The basic secondary schools in the countryside in addition to the usual sports facilities provide an extensive programme of competitive sports - volley-ball, basket-ball, football, gymnastics and other sports. We are trying to build up a unique sports and culture movement centered around these schools. The aim is that each student should take part in some cultural activity, in some scientific and technological activity group and in some kind of sport. There is not the slightest fear that the personality will be denied the fullest expression in an all-round education system which is available to all. The principZes of education by promoting sociaZist emuktion. It is of the utmost importance that young people should be brought up to take their place in thenew society that is being built. The people must be able to respond to the new forces underlying social action. exploitation of man by man are eliminated, social concern must provide an incentive rather than any kind of compulsion based on the struggle to exist or the urge to acquire consumer goods. Emulation at school prepares young people for the new incentives. of school life is based on group emulation. In a spirit of perfect comradeship, young people are encouraged to surpass the norms and requirements and to overcome all difficulties for the common good.

The formation of good habits of behaviour with regard to participation in all kinds of emulative activity is an important factor in educating young people. ages them to do their work, without arousing ill feeling. It helps them to grasp something that the new man must realize - that true merit is merit that the individual acquires by will-power, effort and perseverance.

In an atmosphere of emulation, the spirit of sacrifice and the pupils’ attitude towards work are stressed, and in particular the study and performance of duty are stimulated. At the same time

20

Aesthetic training through the encouragement of groups of stu-

Once production relations are altered and all forms of

The whole

The spirit of emulation encour-

indiscipline, lack of will-power and failure to persevere are overcome. All of this will help us to train young people with a strong character, who will not-.be discouraged or lose heart in the face of difficulties. Youth organizations in the neighbourhood of the school also use emulation to influence the mass of students. The pr-inciple of education by seZf-hetp and sociaZZy usefuZ work. Self-help activities are those performed by the young people to meet their basic needs, particularly in respect of personal clean- liness, orderliness and hygiene in their lodgings, kitchens, dining halls and recreation areas. In the basic secondary schools in the countryside, pupils, organized in teams, perform self-help duties according to a fixed timetable. Such work is extremely beneficial because it provides moral training and inculcates industrious habits and standards of conduct for family life. Our pupils should be taught not to despise any type of manual work, and at the same time they should acquire good habits of personal and public hygiene.

It has been rightly said that manual work performed by school children must become part of their inner life, ideas, feelings and will. ly useful work, in view of the fact that such activities educate pupils by developing an awareness of ethical values which although they appear to be merely part of everyday living, in fact affect the entire moral conduct of the individual.

Socially useful work in the broadest sense of the term includes productive work. social activities undertaken by pupils that may range from decora- ting a school to helping to make a road or lay out a park. secondary schools in the countryside should be something more than educational or production centres isolated from the community: they should be a living example, spreading political and revolutionary awareness. Socially useful work is also carried out in the neighbourhood of the school, and provides young people with greater op- portunities to play their part as citizens of the nation. The principle of educating young people in the care and conservation of public property. A major objective of our education is to inculcate in the child the idea that man is a product of social labour, and that the wealth of the community and the personal well- being of every member of the socialist society are due to the work and unremitting effort of the workers. Education itself is provided as a result of the daily sacrifice made by the people to produce the resources it requires.

This is extremely important in regard to self-help and social-

But for us its meaning is restricted to various

Basic

21

It is most important to develop in young people a sense of responsibility for the care and maintenance of public property. To this end it is recommended that hasic secondary schools in the countryside should form brigades of young students for the maintenance and repair of property and that measures be taken to inform students as to what is the significance of communal property and as to the common responsibility for its preservation. At the same time, on a national level, children are urged to undertake campaigns for the recovery of raw material, and the mass communication media are used to make the people aware of the need to take care of public property. The principle of education through vocational training a d guidance. The people's concern for andattitude towards,the traditional values of education are profoundly changed by a thorough-going revolution. When this process transforms society and really brings education within the reach of all, the concept of 'vocation' takes on a new meaning in the light of new circumstances.

Only all-round education on a mass scale can ensure that nD- one's intelligence is underdeveloped. It is true that human beings are not all equally gifted or endowed with the same skills for each type of activity, but everyone today would agree that vocation is not an 'inner voice', but an informed value judgement; in other words, external stimuli arouse our interest in a specific occupa- tion. Our vocation is therefore in line with our interests. When our interests are suitably encouraged - they are acquired and are related to human needs - w e are, in a certain measure, developing our vocation.

When we speak of cultivating interests in occupations that are indispensable to national development, we are referring to the creation of a positive attitude towards activities that have not been held in high social esteem in the past, for example, of farming in a country that is predominantly agricultural, or fishing in an island whose inhabitants have turned their backs on the sea.

access to culture and is no longer subject to the pressure of the labour market and the resultant material incentives, the scale of values in the matter of occupations undergoes a complete transformation. In the first place, there can be no vocation without knowledge. The education qf the masses is a prerequisite for the work of vocational training and vocational guidance. social process which is an integral part of the national education

When the mass of the population has real

TBis is regarded as a continuous

22

system, its specific objective being the formation and development of interests and aptitudes among students.

part in achieving these aims. between 10 and L5 years of age under the supervision of a technician or specialist who introduces them to his field of work, as far as possible associating the facts learned at school with the subject under study and with the acquisition of practical skill. Visits to production centres, details of scientific advances and the dissemination of information about careers by the mass communication media are also used in vocational training and vocational guidance. The principle of education for international fellowship. National Congress of Education and Culture, held in April 1971, approved a clearly defined programme of activities for the education of our pupils in relation to international fellowship:

The work of the science and technology groups plays an important These are groups of young people

The First

- study of the artistic expression and customs of other peoples through organization of folklore groups, music sessions, films followed by discussion, political circles and student groups;

- dissemination of information among students concerning the life and work of the internationalist combatants, so that our young people will always be deeply conscious of any in- justice committed against anyone in any part of the world;

- establishment of international philatelic groups;

- encouragement of groups of history enthusiasts in all student centres, for the organization of meetings and lectures, the commemoration of historical dates, research concerning the participation of youth in our country's struggle, etc.;

action by youth organizations to guide and channel the spirit of fellowship that is latent in young students, and encourage their active participation in national campaigns on behalf of peoples who are fighting against all forms of exploitation and oppression.

In our education system great importance is attached to the fact

-

that the spirit of fellowship should permeate the behaviour of our pupils, for this spirit is an essential part of the State policy itself in regard to proletarian internationalism. enthusiasm, produces optimism, courage and strength, sets an example in combat and victory, and gives ideological maturity to the action and will-power of pupils, 'as those who are about to fight

Fellowship breeds

side by side', in the words of JosC Mart:. The prineip Ze of education through the participation of young peop Ze in the running of the school. with the basic secondary schools in the countryside - the Unio/n de Jdvenes Comnistas (UJC) (Union of Young Communists) and the Federaeih de Estudiantes de Ense&nza Media (FEEM) (Federation of Secondary School Students). on the School Council, the members of which represent parents, teachers and revolutionary organizations, and which exerts an influence on the affairs of the school.

secondary school pupils. There are no professional organizers in any part of its structure. It has an Executive Bureau in each school which, in accordance with the statutes, organizes the election of members on the basis of merit, particularly as regards their attitude to their work and sustained success in it. The structure of the FEEMwithin each school is as follows: the Class Council, comprising 8 pupils, which meets once a week; the Class Assembly, consisting of all pupils in each class, which meets once a month; the Grade Executive Bureau, consisting of members of the Councils of the same school grade, which meets once a fortnight; the'Grade Assembly, consisting of all pupils in all classes of the same school grade, which meets once a month; the School Executive Bureau, consisting of 8 pupils, whichmeets once a week; the School Council, consisting of the Executive Bureau and Class Councils, which meets once a month; the School Assembly, which includes all pupils in the school', and meets at the end of each term.

The FEEM draws up the Plan to encourage emulation and puts it into practice; it takes an active part in the organization of school life, in sporting and cultural activities, recreation, the organization of the monitor system and the establishment of the science and technology groups, in friendship days and patriotic ceremonies, in the evaluation of pupils' merits and failings

Two youth groups are associated

Both organizations have representatives

The FEEM is a broadly based organization which is open to all

in the encouragement of individual and collective study. The UJC is the political youth organization. It consists

the best students, selected on a very broad basis. It plays very important part in the life of the centre, since it cons of students who are to the fore in study, work and political

and

of a sts con- _ _

sciousness. with the centre's political organization.

activities. It is thus clearly established that the adultlchild

Its activities are linked with those of the FEEM and

The organized youth take part in the running of the centre's

24

relationship cannot be based on coercion or punishment, since that only results in maladjustment or submission. We inculcate social values through understanding, using the spirit of fellowship and mutual respect as the instruments of training and control. '

Education within the context of Marxist-Leninist principzes. ultimate aim of Cuban education - in which the basic secondary school in the countryside constitutes a fundamental link - is to educate the new generations in such a way as to ensure that our children and adolescents develop to the full all the positive values of the human personality, special attention being given to those relating to civic duties so that they will participate con- sciously and actively in the building of socialism. In order to achieve this, the following aims have been laid down for teachers, school principals and public education organizations:

The

Education should be based on a scientific conception of the world and on the development of the cognitive abilities respect- ing facts aad experiences that link school with life, and, on this basis, providing pupils with a sound vocational training closely linked with production centres and development plans.

Productive work should be part of the educational process; pupils should love work, respect and love the worker, appreciate the intellect and energy used to produce material goods, and themselves participate in working life as creators of social wealth.

An effort should be made to inculcate in pupils the personal qualities that are part of socialist ethics, such as militant international solidarity, sincerity, generosity, integrity, loyalty, and realization of the value and spirit of friendship and comradship, which contribute to the development of a real community and brotherly spirit.

The atmosphere should be favourable to the development of conscious discipline.

Pupils should be given the facilities needed for their physical development, so that they may enjoy the health, vigour and joy of the physically fit.

Pupils ' capacity should be developed to appreciate and perceive the values of justice and ethics, of the beauty of the natural world and that created by human ability and energy - in short, the cultural, scientific and ethical values, so that they will

25

enrich their ethical and aesthetic life and raise their standard of behaviour within the community.

The pupils' will-power should be strengthened and their character trained, so that they can overcome obstacles to development.

Pupils should acquire a love for their country and a profound feeling for socialist internationalism.

The work of the school should be linked with family life and with community activities, in order to attain the ultimate purposes of education.

7. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

The technical and administrative structure of the Ministry of Educa- tion is based on the principle that education is a life-long, unin- terrupted process whose beginning and end is the human being himselG and which is continued throughout his life. Thus, not merely the school system itself, but all institutions outside the school system which have an educational function in society must buttress social work on the school, the whole being co-ordinated with the Ministry of Education.

the system that the political knd technical policy for education should be centralized, while the implementation of such policy should be decentralized, channelled down from the nation to the provinces, regions and municipalities or sections. The executive principle according to which this structure operates, therefore, is that technical and administrative decisions always reach each level from that which immediately precedes it in the hierarchy:

(i) Nation-province: Minister or First Vice Minister - Provincial (ii) Province-region: Provincial Director - Regional Director, (iii) Region-municipality: Regional Director - Municipal Director, (iv) Municipality-inspectorate: Municipal Director - Inspector, (v) Inspectorate-school: Inspector - School principal and

their

It is a fundamental principle in the structure and operation of

Director,

teacher.

In this vertical structure, basic secondary schools in the countryside come under the technical and administrative authority of a Regional Directorate of Education. The Sub-Directorate of General and Special Education in each region is responsible €or

26

technical arrangements for these schools. In cases where several basic secondary schools in the countryside are working together because of the scope and nature of development plans in their area, steps have been taken to establish a Regional Directorate of Education which is specifically responsible for centres where special conditions prevail. The director of the centre is the highest authority in the school. There are the following bodies for the organization of its work: Governing Council; School Council; Technical Council; Teachers' Council; Work Brigades.

The Governing Council is the body that directs the activities of the school as a whole. The membership of the Council reflects every aspect of the life of the Centre and consists of the following: School Principal, who is the chairman; Vice-principal (Teaching) ; Vice-Principal (School Production) ; School Secretary (Teaching); School Administrator. The following may be invited to attend the Governing Council, according to the agenda; Secretary- General of the Committee of the Union of Young Communists (UJC); Secretary-General of the Executive Bureau of the Federation of Secondary School Students (FEEM); Secretary-General of the Central Group of the Communist Party (PCC); Secretary-General of the Trade Union Section, National Union of Educational and Scientific Workers (SNTEC); official responsible for the economic development plan where the school is located.

The School Council is the body through which parents and community organizers express their views in regard to the pupils' education. In a specially convened assembly, the election takes place of one parent for each municipality from which pupils are drawn and one parent for each education unit, i.e. roughly 1 parent for each 42 pupils that make up a class. The elected parents meet and choose their President. The Members of the Governing Council referred to above form an integral part of the School Council. The School Council also includes the political and mass organizations established in the municipality in which the school is situated, i.e. the Cuban Comunist Party (PCC), Union of Young Communists (UJC), Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), National Association of Small-holders (ANAP), Cuban Workers Centre (CTC) . Cuban Women promotes the mothers' movement for education. (Movimiento de Madres Combatientes por la Edueaeio'n), part in out-of-school education and in effectively assisting the internal organization of the school. The Committees for the Defence

Through the School Council, for example, the Federation of

which plays an important

27

of the Revolution select 'exemplary parents' and thus strengthen the linking of school with the home as well as the deep concern of parents for the education of their children.

In accordance with the number of pupils and with the curriculum arrangements, the proportion of teachers assigned to each subject is as follows:

Spanish 4 Mathemat cs 4 Biology 4 Geography 3 History 4 Physics 4 Chemistry 2 English 4 Technical training 5 Physical education 2

36

Each of these groups of teachers elects a head of department - usually the person with the greatest experience in that subject. The meeting of all the heads of departments, presided over by the Vice-principal (Teaching), constitutes the Technical Council. The Teachers' Council consists of the 36 teachers in the Centre, and is presided over by the School Principal. It meets periodically to discuss matters of general concern.

The agricultural Work Brigades correspond to the class groups of approximately 42 pupils. These Brigades elect their leaders; they work for three hours a day, from Monday to Friday, on production within the agricultural development zone where the basic secondary school is situated. Pupils work in the fields either in the morning or in the afternoon, according to their shift, accompanied by their teacher. Each task performed has its output standard, which represent about half the productivity rate of a normal adult worker. the agricultural activity and type of crop: heavy, medium or light ground dressing, fertilization, grafting, picking of crops, sowing, etc. Generally no more than half-an-hour is' taken up in travelling time, as the school is situated in the farmlands. The 500 pupils in a basic secondary school look after some 40 cabuZZe&as of land, i.e. a little over 500 hectares. Regular workers are employed in these schemes to aid and direct the pupils' productive activities.

These tasks vary according to the requirements of

28

8. SCHOOL YEAR AND SCHOOL TIMETABLE

The school year in the basic secondary schools in the countryside begins on the first Monday in September and ends in the middle of July with the commencement of pupils' and teachers' holidays. The school year is divided up according to the following general pat- tern:

Weeks

Introductory week (organization) 1

Evaluation of pupils' work 4.5 Technical briefing for teachers 2

Clas swork 37

Teacher training through supervised studies 2

We give below a brief explanation of what these various divisions denote. Introductory week. the general organization of the Centres. ceremony is followed by a series of activities designed to ensure a sound basis of organization and to prepare the educational work that is to be done throughout the school year. During this week pupils are given details concerning the results of the previous year's work and the basic targets to be achieved during the current school year, and information in regard to timetables, the annual work plan and the school regulations. They also receive guidance concerning the assessment of studies and are provided with educational materials and instructions for their use and care. At the same time students carry out a programme of activities worked out by the student associations (UJC, FEEM), in connexion with the re- organization and operation of the latter.

Likewise during this week the first meetings of the Technical Council and the Teachers' Council are held, at which the general lines of the course are indicated. There are also meetings of the teachers responsible for each subject, in order to discuss the programme in each discipline.

In addition to these activities, the agricultural and technical Work Brigades are formed, and pupils make initial contact with the milieu in which they are to work. The work of the basic secondary schools in their own production areas is organized, the ground prepared and livestock installations attended to under the guidance of teachers and assistant field workers.

The introductory week is given over to The official opening

29

CZasswork and evaluation of pupizs' work. schools, evaluation of pupils' progress is cumulative as regards both marking and content. and periodiaal tests. Class exercises enable the teacher to check the pupils' progress, since they provide a means of identifying difficulties and organizing the work in such a way that they can be overcome. cally following development of a concept, a sub-unit or a unit. The following marks are awarded, a cumulative system being employed: Very good, MB; Good, B; Unsatisfactory, I. Failure to do class exercises does not affect pupils' eligibility to sit the periodical tests.

acquired by pupils at that moment. Four tests have to be taken, one for each period. subject in question and, from the second test onwards, cover the basic elements of what has? been studied in previous periods, as well as current studies. The fourth test is called the 'grade' test: this is a 'provincial' examination in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, and a national one in the loth grade. Pupils must have accumulated a minimum of 20 points to be able to sit the fourth test. Points are awarded as follows:

In the basic secondary

Checks are applied through class exercise

Assessment by class exercises takes place systemati-

The purpose of the periodical tests is to assess the knowledge

They include the fundamental aspects of the

Periods 1 2 - 3 - 4 - 1st test 10 2nd test 5 10 3rd test 5 5 15

10 10 4th test 25

Total 25 25 25 25 - - - 5 -

Total

10 15 25 50

100

-

- There is a special session for pupils whose work is below requirements in certain subjects. This takes place following the fourth test. Pupils are promoted to the seventh, eighth or ninth grade provided that on completion of the school year, they have not failed more than two papers (provided that the same subject is not failed in successive years). TechnicaZ guidance for teachers. Secondary school teachers are afforded appropriate technical teaching guidance through technical aid. This guidance is given is two forms, either on a systematic basis, i.e. throughout the academic year,. generally every fortnight

30

except during examinations, or on an intensive basis, i.e. at the beginning or at the end of the school year. teachers receive guidance concerning curricula and courses, teachkg techniques, materials, assessment, etc. In-service training through supervised studies. Teachers who lack experience and proper qualifications receive extra training, by means of a system of fortnightly supervised studies, to fit them for their professional responsibilities. This training alternates with the technical guidance sessions, and an intensive two-week period of study is also provided. Genera 2 timetab Ze of activities:

Under this system

6 a.m. 6.15 to 7 a.m. 7 to 7.15 a.m. 7.30 to 10.30 a.m. 7.30 to 11.15 a.m.

or 12.15 p.m. 11 to 11.45 a.m. 11.45 a.m. to 12.30pm. 1 to 5.30 p.m. 2 to 5.30 p.m. 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. 6.45 to 7.45 p.m. 8 to 8.30 p.m. 8.30 to 10 p.m. 10 p.m.

One day per week students

Get up Breakfast Morning exercises Agriculrural work for 7th and 9th grades

Classes for 8th and 10th grades

Lunch for 7th and 9th grades Lunch for 8th and 10th grades Classes for 7th and 9th grades Agricultural work for 8th and 10th grades Sports or cultural activities Dinner Free time Individual study Lights out

have the afternoon and evening of€ from 5.30 p.m. Pupils are divided into two equal groups, with alternating timetables for study and work in the fields, so that one group occupies classrooms, laboratories and work shops while the other is engaged in agricultural work. Pupils do not interrupt productive work during the assessment period. They have seven weeks’ holidays and teachers four.

9. CURRICULUM The syllabus and curriculum of basic secondary schools in the countryside are very similar in content and arrangement to those in basic secondary schools in the rest of the general education system. The most striking difference is found, perhaps, in study of the first foreign language, i.e., these schools study English in the first year, whereas in other schools it begins in the third year. The 10 subjects comprising the curriculum and the total

31

number of hours given to each subject during the course is as follows: mathematics, 525; physics, 350; chemistry, 175; biology, 420; geography, 280; history, 420; Spanish, 490; English, 455; technical training, 280; physical education, 280. total of 3,675 hours.

is as follows:

This makes a

The curriculum for the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grades respectively

7th GRADE

Subject

Mathematics Physics Biology Geography History Spanish English Technical training Physical education

Total

8th GRADE

Subject

Ma thema t i cs P hy s i cs Biology Geography His tory Spanish English Technical training Physical education

Total

Hours per week

4 2 3 3 3 4 3 2 2

26 7

Hours per week

4 2 4 2 3 4 3 2 2

26 -

Total hours

140 70 105 105 105 140 105 70 70 910 -

Tot a1 hours

140 70

140 70 105 140 105 70 70

9 10 -

32

9th GRADE

Subject

Math ema t i cs Physics Chemistry B io logy Geography His tory Spanish English Technical training Physical education

Total

10th GRADE

Subject

Mat hema t i c s Physics C hemi s try Si o logy His tory Spanish English Technical training Physical education

Total

Hours per week

3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2

27 I_

Hours per week

4 3 3 2 3 3 4 2 2

26 -

To tal hours

105 105 70 105 105 105 105 105 70 70

945 -

To tal hours

140 105 105 70 105 105 140 70 70

9 10 -

Curricula are subject to constant revision by the Standing National Commission for the Revision of Educational Plans, Curricula and Textbooks. At the present time, the syllabuses of the subjects taught at basic secondary level are generally as follows:

33

Mathematics

Seventh grade. The concept of the set: operations and properties. Application of this knowledge to the construction of natural numbers, initial geometrical concepts and fundamental operations. Study of binary and decimal numbers. Introduction of fractions based on operations of an interior, exterior and operator kind. Study of proportionality based on correspondence between certain sets. Eighth grade. in contrast to the old syllabus with its static presentation - on the basis of movements or transformation of figures. Study of the concept of binary relations. The construction of the number continues through development of the construction of the rational number as an equivalence class, which links up with the learning of algebraic techniques. Ninth grade. geometry is completed. cation begins. The concept of the real number is introduced through sequences of decimal approximations, and operations are studied. Through the concept of the numerical function the foundation of elementary algebraic techniques is laid and subsequently developed. Tenth grade. Introduction of the basic ideas of propositional calculus, the notion of propositional function and its relations with the language of sets. Some real applications are studied, and, in particular, study of linear function is used to introduce the calculus of proportionality and study of chi-squared function to introduce the calculus of radicals. is introduced, R2 is studied as vector space, and the notion of affine plane is reached. With the use of vector methods and the notion of affine plane, study of elementary metric geometry termi- nates with homothetic figures, similitude, and the scalar product which serves for the study of metric relations in the triangle and circumference. Study of linear equation systems. Study of trigo- nometry commences through trigonometrical functions.

Geometry is presented in a developed dynamic form-

Study of plane movements and elementary plane Study of the concept of function or appli-

The concept of vector space

Physics

Seventh grade. sure. Law of Archimedes. Introduction to mechanics : mechanical motion, uniform and varying motion. Eighth grade. Mechanics: force of friction, inertia, action- reaction, work, power and energy. Centre of gravity, forms of

Properties of liquids and gases. Atmospheric pres-

34

equilibrium. Levers, pulleys, inclined planes, hydraulic motors and molecular physics: dilatation, hear propagation, etc. Ninth grade. Molecular physics, heat, changes of state in matter, transformation of energy. Introduction to electricity: electrical current, its laws, magnetic and electro-magnetic phenomena. Tenth grade: Geometrical optics: fundamental laws. Molecular physics: changes of state, heat, temperature, etc. Introduction to vectors. Principles of statics.

Chemistry Basic concepts, atomic theory, chemical reactions, electronic structure of the atom, linkage, acids, bases and salts, oxid.ization and reduction and some study of descriptive chemistry using the periodic table. The greatest possible use is made of experiments in the presentation of these subjects, so that the pupil will use his reasoning powers and draw deductions from the facts; his ability to observe and investigate is developed, with the aim of inculcating a scientific spirit.

Bio Zogy Seventh grade. Animal biology. The aim is to enable the pupils to identify animals as living beings by means of observation and study of structure and functions. recognize the biological and economic importance of the animals studied and determine the characteristics that differentiate them from one another. Studies are made of protozoa, coelentarata, nema- todes, annelida, arthropoda, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Eighth grade. Human biology. The aim is to enable the pupils to understand the laws of living nature, and to develop in them a scientific attitude through the information acquired by observation and experiment. They should, in addition, understand general biological theories on the unity of the organism and vital conditions. Studies cover the nerve, bone and muscle systems, digestion, circu- latory and respiratory systems, excretion and reproduction. Ninth grade. Plant biology. Observation, experiment and the development of a scientific approach are encouraged, together with an attitude favourable to the idea of undertaking studies relating to the agricultural sector. Practical skills are developed in connexion with the application of biology in various agricultural problems. Studies cover bacteria, fungi, plant cells and tracheo- phyta.

They should also be able to

35

Tenth grade. pupils are made to realize the importance of the agricultural and stock-raising sector for the development of the national economy, and to understand the economic value of the specific production of crops and the rearing of animals. Steps are taken to encourage a favourable attitude towards careers in agriculture and stock-raising, and instruction is given in the techniques that are promoting the advance of industries in this sector. The instruction includes study of the soil, its physical, chemical and biological properties: crops that are of economic importance for Cuba, such as sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee, citrus fruits, rice, leguminous plants, bananas, pineapple, etc.; and special emphasis is placed on activities of a highly practical order. Study is also made of livestock of economic importance to Cuba, and visits are arranged to experimental and industrial centres set up under the various development plans.

Geography

Seventh grade. Physical geography. At this level the subject helps in the formation of a dialectical-materialist conception of the universe, the evolution of our planet being illustrated by constant reference to examples'; it develops a scientific attitude towards geographical and economic processes as resulting from natural laws and man's activities. The syllabus includes a study of the planet Earth in space and time, and the natural geographical environment represented by the relief, oceans, rivers, etc., climates, soils, vegetation and animal life, with the inter-relationships that exist among all these phenomena, their influence on human life and the part played by man in all changes in the geographical environment. Eighth grade. Regional geography. At this level pupils apply their knowledge of physical geography (acquired in the seventh grade), establishing the cause-effect relation in the study of the origin of geographical features. pupils understand the main social and economic problems in the various continents and the causes of under-development in the countries of the Third World; they also acquire a keener realization of the relationship between nature and society and of the transformation of the environment for the benefit of man. The syllabus includes the study of all the continents from the physical, economic, political and social points of view; there is no individual study of countries, but only references to the importance of certain nations from the point of view of the economic exploitation of their resources and according to their socio-economic system.

Applied biology (agriculture and stock-raising) , The

Steps are taken to ensure that

36

Ninth grade. Geography of Cuba. This course gives pupils a scientific understanding of the geographical environment of our country, with a view to its transformation for the benefit of society. explains how, by means of science and technology, a rational use can be made of them. It includes study of the geographical environment of our country and its relationship with the economic situation, the social and political aspects of which are underlined.

History Basic secondary school pupils are given a complete picture of the history of mankind. The seventh grade affords an elementary knowledge of prehistory, ancient history, medieval history; and the eighth grade continues with modern and contemporary history; in the ninth grade a study is made of the history of Cuba, a basic knowledge of which has already been acquired by the pupils at primary school and concerning which their wider range of knowledge now enables them to have a more informed opinion also allowing them to assign a place to it within the world context. Tenth grade pupils complete the course with the systematic study of the history of America; this has also been covered in previous grades but is now given the necessary continuity, special stress being laid on the 19th and 20th centuries.

Spanish Seventh grade. At this level the reading materials are linked with the history syllabus and covers the ancient and medieval periods. Most of it is material that reflects the ways of life in those times. Oral and written expression include exercises in exposition, pr6cis writing, conversation, letter-writing, notices, telegrams, narration and description. Grammatical structure includes: the simple sentence, its structure, verb and noun predicate, agreements, verb types, the noun, the adjective. Specific points of spelling covered include: use of capitals, punctuation, accents, prefixes, suffixes and words that can be run together or cannot, or can be written either way. Eighth grade. Reading materials at this level are related to the modern and contemporary history syllabus. Exercises in oral and written expression continue as before. Grammatical structure includes subject and predicate linking, the adverb, the degrees of the adjective, personal, demonstrative, possessive, indefinite and interrogative pronouns, and regular verbs. Spelling includes

It provides a knowledge of Cuba's natural resources and

37

abbreviations, numbers, difficulties in writing b and v; c,s and z; x and h; verb endings with spelling difficulties; special cases. Through poetry reading and study, a knowledge of versifi- cation is gained; prose and verse, metrical syllables, poetic licence, metre, different types of strophic unit. Ninth grade. Further practice in reading is provided and literary appreciation begins with extracts from Spanish and Cuban literature that are connected with the history syllabus. expression continues, with training in the various forms of elocu- tion: expression of conclusions and opinions, statements on subjects on which research has been carried out, panels and round tables, interviews, summaries and commentaries. Grammatical structure includes the difference between the sentence, the clause and the phrase; co-ordination and juxtaposition; adjectival and adverbial clauses;. irregular verbs and impersonal verb forms. the work done in previous grades is consolidated and, in addition, points such as plural and feminine endings and verb are dealt with. Tenth grade. this grade, when pupils are introduced to authors and works repre- sentative of the various literary movements. The study of gramatical constructions includes certain cases of special agreements, the different categories of verbs and, verbal phrases, adverbs, the linking of sentences to form a paragraph, the function of noun clauses and of adjectival and adverbial subordinate clauses.

EngZish

Studies begin in the seventh grade, when the basic elementary constructions and a vocabulary of the most frequently used words are taught. Study of constructions continues progressively, until the past tense of irregular verbs is reached in the eighth grade. Addi- tional reading is done in the ninth and tenth grades, so as to re- vise the most difficult constructions. The textbooks used are the English First Course CornpZementary Booklet and English Second Course Cornpkmentary Booklet, prepared by the English Department in the Vice-Ministry of General and Special Education (Ministry of Education).

TechnicaZ training

Seventh grade. Mechanical drawing. In this course pupils learn the importance of mechanical drawing in modern life. skill in drawing plans of simple technical parts and in interpreting

Oral and written

In spelling,

inflexions

The systematic study of Spanish literature begins in

They gain

38

plans for the execution of projects in the workshop and for the installation of electrical circuits in the case of wiring diagrams. Eighth grade. Metals. This course gives pupils a knowledge of the most important metals and alloys used in the manufacture of machinery and articles in general use, their properties and the processes by which they are produced. skills in metalwork both at the bench and by using machine-tools, the structure, working principles and operation of which they learn at the same time. They also learn the scientific principles that govern the working of metals, as well as the principle and operating cycle of the internal combustion engine. Ninth grade. Industrial production. This course gives pupils a knowledge of wood-working processes both at the bench and using machine-tools. At the same time as they learn about the structure, principles and functioning of these machine-tools, they also learn the principles of industrial production. Tenth grade. Electro-technics. This course provides pupils with the skills and knowledge they need to interpret and carry out simple electrical installations. The theoretical knowledge concerning electricity acquired in the physics class is fitted in, and pupils come to realize its importance for economic development in applying it to production, health, transport, etc.

Physical education The general content of the physical education programme for the 4-year period covers the following sports: Athletics. (7th78th and 9th grades) Physical preparation, running and endurance training, running and speed training, long jump, high jump, putting the shot, throwing the javelin, school competition. Basket-ball. (7th, 8th and loth grades) Physical preparation, moves, receiving and passing, dribbling, shooting, defensive techniques, attacking and defensive tactics, games, school competitions. VoZZey-ball. (7th, 9th and 10th grades) Physical preparation, receiving the ball, overhead volley, underarm and overarm serving, smash, defence, blocking the ball, games and school competitions. Football. (8th, 9th and 10th grades) Physical preparation; striking the ball with the inside of the foot, trapping with the inside of the foot, dribbling with the inside and outside of the foot, taking the ball full on the instep, striking with the ins5de of the instep, taking the ball on the thigh, taking the ball on the chest, striking with the instep; taking the ball on the outside of the foot, heading, a jumping header, tackling, goal-keeping (individual technique), striking with the outer side of the instep, tactical

They acquire operating

39

and free warming up games, dribbling, tactics (tactical games), official regulations and school competitions. Modern gymnastics. (All grades) Physical preparation, setting up and control exercises, walking and running, specific training, bar exercises, wave simulations movements, basic dance steps, turns, balancing and steps, jumps, bending, acrobatics, school competitions.

10. BUILDING

In building we use the prefabricated reinforced concrete system (here called the G i r h system), apart from floor and roof slabs which are of prestressed concrete elements. Three distinct areas are distinguishable according to use - teaching area, kitchen and dining-room area, and dormitory area, all linked by corridors. Most basic secondary schools in the countryside consist of four buildings, three of which have three floors while the fourth - the kitchen/ dining-room building - is a single-storey construction. Other basic secondary schools consist of three buildings, one of which - a longer building - is four storeys high. This modification has been introduced as the result of building experience, and experiments are continuing with a view to finding a more satisfactory solution. ation grounds, the total area being 7 hectares. up as follows:

In addition to the buildings there are sports and recre- This area is divided

Classroom building Ki tchenldining-room Boys ' dormitory Girls' dormitory Connecting galleries

Total

Sq. m. 1928.25 645.75 2103.75 2137.50 144.00

6959.25

Sports grounds take up an area of 54,000 sq. m.

In the teaching building, the percentage of space allocation for the various functions is as follows: classrooms, etc. 67.0; administrative premises 3.5; services 11.00; corridors 18.0.

40

Basic secondary schoots in the countryside atready buitt, being buitt, or site-designated, according to the type of crop in their _ _ - area

Province Region built construction Already Under

Pinar del Rio Citrus fruits Guane

La Habana Citrus fruits Ceiba Other fruit Aguacate Tobacco Ar i guanab o Coffee Nuevo Mundo Food & other crops Art emi s a

I1

1 1

It

11

Agrup. Hort. Gcines 19 de Abril Granj a Nort .

IsZa de Pinos Citrus fruits I. de Pinos

Matanzas Citrus fruits JagGey

Las ViZZas Citrus fruits Arimao Citrus fruits Banao Tobacco Manicaragua Tobacco B6ez

3 3

20 7 4

1

3 2 1 1 1

5 5

-

- -

- b5 - 5

8 2

1 1

- -

Tobacco Santi-Spiri tus 2 Food & other crops Horquitas -

Valle Yabii 2 Manacas -

2 Citrus fruits Ceballos 2 Citrus fruits Sola - Food & other crops Patria -

Mar agudn -

11

11

Camagiiey -

11

1 1 - 2 1 - 1

Site- desi Enated

5 3

11

-

- - - 2 1

1 3 3 1 - 2 2

4 4 8

1 2

1

2 1 1

5 2 1

1 1

-

-

- -

-

-

41

Province

Oriente Citrus fruits Citrus fruits Food & other

crops 11

11

Plant crops Coffee

Overall total

7

Contramaestre - -

Guantgnamo 2

San Andrds 2 Vegui t as 3 H. Artires - V5zquez - - Yat eras

50 -

Under construction

32 -

Site- des 1 gnat ed

11 2 2

c

51

The following site-designated schools are not yet shown in this plan, which applies to 1973: Matanzas, 1 in Isla de Pinos and 1 in La Habana.

2 in CamagGey, 2 in Las Villas, 1 in

11. PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY- SIDE

A start was made in pedagogical experiments as long ago as 1965 with the 'school confronts the countryside' plan, an initial large- scale teaching experiment in the Province of Camagiiey, designed to marry productive work with schooling and to attain the same objectives as defined for the present-day 'school in the countryside'. These experiments were essentially aimed at checking the hypothesis that productive work and participation by students and teachers in the development of the economic and social plan of the revolution - when the regular studies are tied in intelligently with the practical work - strengthen and improve the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom.

sity conceived and carried out an evaluation of the 'school confronts the countryside' plan on the basis of observations and experiences collected in a Register of Experiences written up daily under a system of categories of significant elements in the training of student participants in 34 camps spread over eight regions of Oriente province.

side, a study was begun in September 1971 - under the responsibility of the Department of Psychology of the Ministry of Education - 42

In 1967 the Frank Pais Pedagogical Institute of Oriente Univer-

With the opening of the first 50 secondary schools in the country-

on

the effects of education plus work in the training of students of grades 7 to 10 in the new type of secondary school. This investigation will last four years and its results will accordingly be examined in 1975. The aspects which will be measured are general capacity, learning achievement, interests and attitudes, family background, student-teacher relations and relations between students. Four secondary schools in the countryside constitute the experimental group while two basic secondary boarding schools of the traditional type (scholarship holders) and one basic secondary day school are retained as control groups.

In addition, the Vice-Ministry of General and Special Education makes annual comparative studies of academic evaluations and promotions under a sysrem of common tests for pupils in the various branches and grades in the traditional basic secondary schools and in the secondary schools in the countryside. The results continue to show that higher percentages are obtained every year by pupils in the new type of school compared to those in the traditional type. levels.

regard to the possibilities for carrying out experiments leading towards social and pedagogical renovation - which have warranted their description as 'permanent laboratories' - they have been set a series of investigations of their own problems arising from their new institutional characteristics and another series arising from their utilization as experimental groups for innovations in course structure, programmes, contents and teaching methods within the sub-system of secondary education grades 7 to 10.

These studies are carried out at the provincial and regional

Given the importance of this new type of school, and having

43

11. Conclusions

The basic secondary schools in the countryside are an educational innovation of great significance inasmuch as they represent the prototype of the schools of the future in the Cuban national education system. In these teaching centres are shaped and materialized, in optimum conditions, aspirations, intentions and objectives which by their significance and effectiveness are forcibly and decisively producing substantial changes in the pursuit of the ends and objectives of education, in the structuring of the contents of education, in the use of teaching methods and media, and in the schools’ function and educational work. These aspirations, intentions and objectives can be expressed as follows.

The systematic application of the principle of the combination of education, study and work, the ideal of all the educators and champions of humanity who Gave urged and are urging the ending of the present divorce between theory and practice and between intellectual and manual work in education and in life.

The conscious association and contribution of youth in the building of a new society through its full integration in the economic and social development planswhich the revolution is putting into operation for the nation.

The universalization of education with the universalization of work, thrwh successfully overcoming and resolving the contradiction facing the underdeveloped countries between the growth needs of the educational services and the financial limitations of the nation: the transformation of the school into a productive social force reinforces the formative mission proper to it and can cover the financial investment in building it and the expen- ses of operating it alike.

The canalization of the current of scientific technological and cultural progress which is generated in the cities and reaches the rural areas of agricultural and industrial development through the workers in education and the students from cities

45

and towns in a reversal of the phenomenon comonly occurring in many places particularly in the underdeveloped countries of the Third World: the school with its population of teachers and students from the city and adjacent country areas acts as a focus for the promotion of cultural exchanges with the zone's community of agricultural and industrial workers and peasant families.

The real possibility of full application of the principle of all- round training, multifaceted and multilateral, in the education of youth: the moulding of the new man for the new all-worker society.

of the polytechnic principle of general education as a socially necessary element inherent in all socialist pedagogics.

ment and of retaining the peasant girls in the new school, in that they have the effect of countering and overcoming the tradition of early leaving consequent on the custom of early marriage among adolescents of rural areas (ages 13 to 16).

The encouragement of a pedagogic movement, pressured by the new basic secondary schools in the countryside, towards extensive changes in substance and structure, as regards the aims, objectives, organization, direction, contents, methods and media of teaching in the schools of the national system. This with the purpose of raising the levels of enrolment and the quality of teaching and education, firstly, to fit the requirements of the current economic and social development plans, and secondly in view of the notable achievements secured by these new schools as regards better human training and the high yields obtained in academic evaluation and the promotion of pupils.In the 1971-72 academic year, the basic secondary schools in the countryside scored a promotions average the urban secondary schools and 16.2 per cent higher in 1972-73.

the teaching and training work and the results it yields in these schools -which are regarded by the Ministry as permanent research laboratories in educational science - contribute to the solution of the complex problems which face the national education system.

The attainmenf of increasing experience regarding the application

The opportunity of maintaining the increased level of school enrol-

11 per cent higher than that of

The consistent development of pedagogical investigation based on

46

Finally, the observations of the Prime Minister on the need to carry out an educational revolution through the execution of the educational plan until 1980 is a clear illustration of the profound significance and effectiveness as an educational innovation of the basic secondary school in the countryside. In fact, this plan, already begun, is based on the innovatory experience represented by these schools which in their general lines serve as models for it. The plan envisages enormous in- vestments in school buildings, in the provision of modern school centres, in the training of teaching, technical, administrative, and service staff for the following new types of teaching plant: primary schools with productive gardens; pre-vocational schools in the countryside for scholastically backward children (ages 13 to 16); basic secondary schools in the countryside; pre- university institutes in the countryside; polytechnic centres in sugar refineries and new factories; new technological institutes; primary teacher training centres; university branch centres in the countryside: (pedagogic units in groups of basic secondary schools in the countryside for the training of instruc- tors for general middle education and getting their pupils from grade 10 of basic secondary schools in the countryside).

The plan likewise comprises complex futurist studies and researches focused on the structure of the system with a view to resolving the principle quantitative and qualitative which our education has to cope.

All that has been said about the present educational revolution indicates that from the period from 1980-85 we shall have an up- heaval in the conditions and status of our national education system. Thus today's basic secondary schools in the countryside are the triggering factor which like a detonator sets loose the movement towards the school and education system of tomorrow.

deficiencies with

47

I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I

I

I

I I

I I I I I I I

Questionnaire (7)

To develop the series further, it would be helpful if rmiiers couM record their impressions and inform the IBE. (Please write 'yes ' or 'no' in the space following each question. Further comments may be written on the back of this sheet.)

1.

2.

3.

Do you find the author's analysis useful for your own work? 0 in particular, is it: - - -

an adequate survey of the field? 0 a basis for further discussion and study? 0 too abstract to be useful?=

With regard to the sources cited, could you indicate any recent documents of a similar type which have been overlooked?

Can you indicate any cases of innovation in your own country (or field of specialization) which you feel might have interest for other countries if adequately written up? Please name the person or institution able to provide further information about the project.

Please indicate your name and address and return this questionnaire to: the International Bureau of Education, Palais Wilson, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland or, when applicable, to your Unesco Regional Office for Education (i.e. Bangkok, Dakar or Santiago).

the basic secondary school in the country: an educational...

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