School and Store

School and Store
Fecha de publicación: 
2 September 2019
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The mass media have echoed the odyssey several parents experienced while buying the school uniform. The lines, in some places, tested the reach of human beings’ patience. But, as usual, every boy and girl will commence the school year in complete uniform.

The classrooms will be equipped with every needed basic aids: textbooks, notebooks, and pencils. Each student will be sit in their desk. And the most important thing: every classroom will have a professor. Hence, families have no need to pay for one.

The Ministry of Education has guaranteed the educational coverage and the situation is much better than previous years thanks to a large extent to the pay rise in the public sector, when thousands of professionals quitted their jobs seeking better economic opportunities.

Classroom, textbooks and notebooks, uniforms, teachers…enough to offer a quality education. Such quality will depend heavily on the professors’ effort and skill, the goals’ achievement in every year, the supplement of school with family, and the support of the community agencies.

And of course, the commitment of students and parents.

The school, much have been said, is the cornerstone of every nation-building project.

A country without high-quality school standards is a nation without roots.

Therefore, we cannot see education as a resource waste but rather an investment in the future.

A very significant part of the national budget is allocated to the educational system at all levels (it is not propaganda, as some have stated), but a safe bet for the comprehensive development of the society.

Cuban contemporary education has several challenges. Its problems and potential go beyond teaching staff and public servants of certain ministries: a national debate is much-needed.

This debate has several viewpoints and exceptional implications. There are somehow recent events, for instance, that have had impact on the egalitarian access to education. Many families are boasting their high standard of living at school; namely, clothes, school gear, and shoes.

The equity sought through the school uniform is tottering due to that internal competition of showing off the most lucrative schoolbag, designer sports shoes, tablets, and showy cellphones.

It is alarming the emerging vicious circle: low income parents are making great sacrifices because their children “cannot be less.”

Moreover, boys and girls are embracing naturally the fact that the more they boast, the better.

Recognition of students must be paired with school performance, not accessory items. Study, discipline, enthusiasm before sports and cultural activities must be encouraged.

Professors play a paramount role in this scenario. Although family is the key.

You go to school to learn, strengthen your human values, and exchange with other kids on equal basis.

School and store are not comparable.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz/CubaSí Translation Staff

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