The quality of the educational process

The 2023-2024 school year, which begins today, poses immense challenges to the educational system and the entire Cuban social framework. Especially if education is the basis of all the country's development, the guarantee of a national project. And the timing is particularly complex.

In order to guarantee that all students in the nation receive their classes, alternatives have had to be explored, since the teaching staff has its own holes. The economic crisis has had an impact on a sector that receives, in comparison with not a few economic actors, low wages. The exodus to other areas is understandable, motivated by either specific needs or legitimate aspirations.

It is one of the most painful inequities. Unlike other professionals, teachers have little chance of accessing multiple jobs, since they are required to be in the classroom throughout the working day. And, of course, they are outside the business schemes.

Public recognition does not pay the bills in times of rampant inflation.

We are talking about a job that requires high levels of vocation and daily sacrifice. And not all those who decide to step up, live up to the students’ demands.

It is not easy since the quality of the educational process in the first level of education depends to a large extent on the middle and higher levels. That is why an integrative approach is required in current study plans. Teachers cannot assume all the responsibility for the academic formation of the students... although they maintain the greater responsibility.

The effort involved in guaranteeing that all students in the country have a teacher in their classrooms, even if it is not always the ideal teacher, must find effective articulations at the base.

It is urgent to consolidate effective exchanges between teachers with more experience and those who have just joined the classroom. Advice, follow-up, and opportunities for improvement are paramount. The aspiration must be to honor the study plans, from rigor, ethics, and commitment.

The country will forever be in debt to its teachers. We all are. Instruction and education are inalienable rights. We cannot afford to sit idle in the face of the crisis of certain processes.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff