Childcare centers in Cuba, a Fidel Castro’s idea, mark 63 years

The childcare centers in Cuba, an initiative promoted by the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, to ensure the full integration of women into work, are marking 63 years of their founding on Wednesday.

These centers, which accept children under the age of five, are one of the most noble and enduring works of the Revolution and contribute to the integral formation of children, creating habits, customs, and standards of behavior that strengthen home education.

Heroine Vilma Espín founded those centers, considering the educational and pedagogical activities, according to each age and promoting their integral and multifaceted development, in addition to the socialization so significant for education in the early years.

Until the triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959, Cuba only had asylums for socially disadvantaged children and Casa de Beneficencia (Charity House), where single mothers, orphans, and abandoned children were admitted. They did not have adequate conditions for those children’s healthy physical and mental development.

As a genuine work of the Revolution, these institutions have remained from April 10, 1961, to the present day.

We have much to thank them for, because, despite the complex times Cuba has lived, they have not closed their doors, and all of their staff strive to educate children with all the love and professionalism that this implies.