THE CUBAN EDUCATION SYSTEM
EL SISTEMA EDUCACIONAL.
Por Rogelio A. de la Torre
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SINCE THE iNDEPENDENCE UNTIL 1959
LA ESCUELA PÚBLICA DURANTE LA REPÚBLICA. (Hasta 1959)
EL NIVEL PRIMARIO.EL NIVEL PRIMARIO.
La nación cubana salió de la dominación española en condiciones bastante precarias. Como consecuencia de la guerra de independencia, y sobre todo a causa de la reconcentración decretada por el Capitán General Vareliano Weyler, la población había disminuido considerablemente. Desde luego, el sistema escolar había sufrido grandes embates.
Baste decir que de 775 escuelas que había en 1887, al terminar la Guerra de Independencia ese número se había reducido a solamente 541.
Por otra parte, el analfabetismo, que siempre había sido bastante alto, aumentó hasta llegar al 64 por ciento de la población total.Ante esta situación, era natural que tanto el Gobierno Interventor Norteamericano como los primeros Gobiernos de la República le dedicaran especial atención a las cuestiones educativas.
PERO YA PARA EL DECENIO DE 1950-1959, segun las Estadisticas de la UNESCO ,Cuba tenia un 23.4% de analfabetos.
En lo que se refiere a la enseñanza primaria, uno de los primeros problemas con que se tuvo que enfrentar el Gobierno Americano fue el de la carencia de maestros debidamente capacitados. Inicialmente se les dio autorización a las Juntas de Educación para que contrataran libremente como maestros a personas que ellas consideraran honorables y competentes.
Desde luego, esta medida fue de corta duración, porque muy pronto se decidió convocar a exámenes para maestros, resultando aprobados más de mil aspirantes.
Poco después se estableció un sistema por el cual los maestros ya aprobados y designados debían someterse a exámenes periódicos de capacitación, en los que se les certificaba para continuar ejerciendo la enseñanza por uno y tres años sucesivamente.
A pesar de la ventaja que el sistema ofrecía de obligar a los maestros a mantenerse al día en las cuestiones de la enseñanza, en definitiva fue abandonado en 1909, para aliviar la constante preocupación que ocasionaba la posibilidad de no recibir una nueva certificación.
Durante los primeros años de la República, la enseñanza se realizó en forma un poco desordenada, porque se les daba a los maestros gran libertad para llevar a cabo su labor.
Sin embargo, en el año 1905, la Junta de Superintendentes aprobó los primeros cursos de estudio.
LA GRAN VOCACION Y DESEOS DE LOS MAESTROS CUBANOS.
A pesar de la innegable existencia de cierta desorganización, los primeros maestros de la República tuvieron un éxito extraordinario, porque suplieron las deficiencias que tenían con un grado muy elevado de entusiasmo y de dedicación.
Como consecuencia, el analfabetismo se redujo considerablemente, y la instrucción primaria se extendió a un por ciento de la población mucho más elevado.
Con el transcurso del tiempo se hizo evidente que el sistema de nombramientos por exámenes de competencia no era el más adecuado, y se llegó a la conclusión de que era necesario crear escuelas para la preparación de los maestros.
Ya desde el año 1900, al hacerse la Reforma Universitaria, se había creado la Facultad de Pedagogía, la cual preparaba a estudiantes de nivel superior para enseñar en las escuelas de la República a todos los niveles. Sin embargo, no era posible esperar que esta Facultad preparara a la enorme cantidad de maestros que la República necesitaba.
En lo que se refiere a la enseñanza a nivel de Kindergarten, en 1902 se fundó en La Habana una Escuela Normal de Kindergarten, con el objeto de preparar maestros para que impartieran este tipo de enseñanza.
Más tarde, en el año 1915, se creó en La Habana una Escuela Normal de Maestros para varones y otra para señoritas.
Posteriormente se crearon Escuelas de este tipo en las demás capitales de provincia.
La primera Normal para Maestras del Hogar se creó en Cuba en 1918.
Esta escuela comenzó a preparar Maestras de Trabajos Manuales y de Economía Doméstica en 1927.
La escuela pública, que tuvo tanto éxito en los primeros años de la República, comenzó a decaer con el transcurso del tiempo.
Entre las razones de esta decadencia puede citarse el hecho de que las Juntas Municipales de Educación, que habían sido inicialmente designadas mediante elecciones, se convirtieron en organismos cuyos miembros eran nombrados directamente por el Ministro de Educación, aunque eligiendo de ternas de candidatos que se le sometían al efecto.
Este cambio, en primer lugar, redujo el grado de conexión entre las escuelas y la comunidad, y por otra parte trajo como consecuencia la intromisión de la política en las cuestiones de la educación.
Otra de las razones por las cuales las escuelas públicas primarias continuaron decayendo fue la contaminación del sistema escolar con la corrupción y los malos manejos de la administración pública en general. Aunque a los maestros siempre se les exigía capacitación profesional, en la mayoría de los casos eran designados libremente por el Ministro de Educación. Las escuelas muchas veces carecían de suficientes libros y materiales escolares.
En 1958, según un informe de la UNESCO, Cuba era el primer país latinoamericano en cuanto al por ciento del presupuesto que se dedicaba a la educación.
Sin embargo, es preciso señalar que, aunque los presupuestos nacionales asignaran fondos en proporciones bastantes elevados, dichos fondos no siempre se aplicaban a resolver los problemas de la enseñanza, ya que muchas veces eran objeto de despilfarro y de malversación. Así ocurrió especialmente en las décadas de los años 40 y 50, cuando algunos funcionarios se apropiaron de enormes cantidades de dinero, sustrayéndolas de los fondos asignados para la educación de la niñez.
Con propósito de resolver el problema de la educación de los niños campesinos, en 1936 se crearon las Escuela Rurales en las zonas campestres de Cuba.
La medida tuvo en Cuba grandes repercusiones, pues inclusive estuvo relacionada con la destitución de que fue víctima el Presidente Miguel Mariano Gómez. Sin embargo, después de haber sufrido algunas modificaciones, toda esta organización cívico-militar fue sometida al control civil al entrar en vigor la Constitución de 1940.
Si se examina el cuadro completo que ofrece la educación pública a nivel primario durante la República, se notaron algunas deficiencias de orden administrativo. A consecuencia de esto, LAS ESCUELAS PRIVADAS tomaron un auge extraordinario en Cuba y vino a subsanar muchas de las limitaciones que tenía la pública. Habian ya para 1959 mas de 80 Escuelas Privadas en toda Cuba. En todas las grandes y medianas ciudades del pais.
LA ESCUELA PÚBLICA DE NIVEL SECUNDARIO.
La Educación Secundaria en Cuba durante todo el período republicano estuvo principalmente a cargo de los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza.
Los mismos habían sido establecidos durante la Colonia, que creó cuatro en 1857 y que llegó a tener hasta seis en 1888.
Al comenzar la República, funcionaba un Instituto en cada capital de provincia, Pinar del Río, La Habana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Camagüey y Santiago de Cuba. Despues se fueron inaugurando muchos mas en diferentes ciudades. aparte de los de tipo PRIVADO.
Los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza realizaron en Cuba una labor encomiable.
Ellos fueron la base de la educación avanzada durante toda la etapa republicana.
En realidad eran instituciones docentes básicamente pre-universitarias, pues aunque durante varios períodos tuvieron a su cargo también algún tipo de enseñanza técnica, su objetivo principal era preparar a los estudiantes para la realización de estudios universitarios.
EL PLAN PEDAGOGICO DE ENRIQUE JOSE VARONA
El Gobierno Interventor Norteamericano le encomendó a Enrique José Varona la tarea de reorganizar la enseñanza en los niveles secundario y universitario en Cuba.
Varona propuso para los Institutos, y se implantó de inmediato, un plan bastante novedoso, que ha dado mucho que hablar con el transcurso del tiempo. Este plan, que se denominó «Plan Varona», estuvo vigente para la Segunda Enseñanza en Cuba desde el año 1900 hasta 1939.
Y SE INCORPORARON AL CURRICULUM DE ESTE NIVEL 35 ASIGNATURAS O MATERIAS.
Estableció un programa de estudios bastante acelerado, que ponía mucho énfasis en el aprendizaje de las Ciencias, lo cual necesitaba la naciente República con urgencia. Sin embargo, este plan, que prescribía cuatro años de estudios, redujo considerablemente la atención a las Humanidades, a pesar de que Varona era, probablemente, el primer humanista con que contaba Cuba.
MAS ADELANTE EL PLAN SE EXTENDIO A CINCO ANIOS.
( BACHILLERATO EN CIENCIAS O BACH EN LETRAS O HUMANIDADES )
O sea que en el Quinto anio se podia escoger el seguir en ciencias o ir al campo de Humanidades.
Jorge Mañach, en cierto modo, defendió el Plan Varona de las acerbas críticas que se le dirigieron diciendo que su autor había aplicado una «terapia de urgencia», y que quizás fue bastante apropiado para el momento y las circunstancias en que Varona lo elaboró.
En realidad, al preparar su plan de estudios para la Segunda Enseñanza, Varona se guió completamente por las ideas del positivismo, filosofía ésta que él había abrazado íntegramente, y de la cual fue uno de los primeros y más brillantes exponentes en América Latina.
En el año 1937 se crearon trece nuevos Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza en diversas ciudades de la República.
Dos años más tarde, en 1939, se estableció un nuevo Plan de Estudios, el cual fue sustituido en 1941 por el llamado «Plan Remos», que se mantuvo en vigor hasta la llegada del régimen comunista.
Este plan era muy superior al Plan Varona. Constaba de cinco años, y mantenía una división entre los primeros cuatro años de estudio, que formaban el Bachillerato Elemental, y el último año, que completaba el Bachillerato Pre-Universitario, ya fuera en el campo de la Ciencias o en el de las Letras.
En este Plan, cuyo autor fue el Dr. Juan J. Remos, se le dio mucha más importancia a las Humanidades, añadiéndose el estudio de la Historia de Cuba, de la Sociología, de la Sicología, y hasta de los principios de la Filosofía. Algunos Institutos añadieron a su curriculum cursos de Música y de Coro, Latin y Lengua Francesa y hasta tuvieron Bandas de Música y Conjuntos Polifónicos.Los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza de Cuba llegaron a tener, en su casi totalidad, edificios especialmente construidos para impartir este tipo de enseñanza, y estuvieron dotados de eficientes Laboratorios de Física, Química y Estudios Naturales. Todos contaron con una Biblioteca bastante bien dotada, y algunos añadieron importantes museos.
LA ENSEÑANZA ESPECIAL
SPECIAL SCHOOLS
Paralelamente a los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza existió en Cuba una notable variedad de Escuelas Especiales, que rindieron una labor muy efectiva y beneficiosa.
En determinadas ocasiones, sobre todo en los comienzos de la República, algunas de estas escuelas mantuvieron cierta conexión con los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza.
En el año 1900, al producirse la reorganización educacional, se anexó al Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de La Habana una Escuela de Náutica, y también se incorporaron a este plantel los estudios de Comercio y Taquigrafía de la Academia de Comercio.Igualmente, en aquella oportunidad se agregó una Escuela de Agrimensura = ( LAND SURVEYING COURSES ) a cada uno de los Institutos de Segunda Enseñanza de la República.
A pesar de estas excepciones, sin embargo, la regla general fue que las Escuelas Especiales funcionaron en forma totalmente independiente.
La más antigua de estas Escuelas fue la de dibujo y pintura de San Alejandro, ( Painting,drawing & sculpture ) que fue fundada por la Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País en 1818. THE TEACHERS NORMAL SCHOOLS
( TEACHERS FORMATION SCHOOLS )
Entre las Escuelas Especiales que funcionaron en Cuba se destacaron las Escuelas Normales de Maestros, que prepararon el personal docente durante casi todo el período republicano. Como se dijo más arriba, las primeras dos escuelas oficiales de este tipo se crearon en la capital de la República en el año 1915, una para varones y otra para señoritas. Al año siguiente se establecieron Escuelas Normales de Maestros en Oriente y Las Villas, y en 1918 se fundaron las de Pinar del Río y Matanzas. La última se creó en Camagüey en 1923.Con un grado mayor de especialización existieron en Cuba las Escuelas Normales de Kindergarten, cuya misión era la de preparar maestras para impartir educación a este específico nivel.
Durante muchos años funcionó solamente la de La Habana, que había sido fundada en el año 1902. En 1935 se fundó otra Escuela Normal de Kindergarten en Santa Clara, y más tarde, en la década del 40, se oficializaron las de Camagüey y Oriente, que habían sido fundadas por iniciativa privada.
También las Escuelas del Hogar.
Como ya se ha dicho, la primera de estas escuelas se fundó en 1918, y en los últimos años de la República su número había aumentado hasta llegar a 14. Aunque algunas muchachas asistían a estas escuelas con el sólo propósito de prepararse para el manejo de su propio hogar, el objetivo principal de las mismas era el de capacitar a las Maestras de Trabajos Manuales y de Economía Doméstica.Otro tipo de escuelas de enseñanza especial que funcionaron en Cuba fueron las Escuelas Profesionales de Comercio.
Las primeras se fundaron en La Habana, Santa Clara y Santiago de Cuba en 1927, pero con el transcurso de los años fueron añadiéndose otras hasta llegar al número de 11 Escuelas de Comercio oficiales en la República.
Estas escuelas prestaron un servicio sumamente importante en la época republicana, ya que sus graduados contribuyeron de manera notable a facilitar el desarrollo económico y mercantil a lo largo de todo el territorio de la nación.
También fueron importantes
las Escuelas de Artes y Oficios, que preparaban Constructores Civiles, Mecánicos Industriales, Químicos Industriales, y Electricistas Industriales.
La primera de estas escuelas había sido fundada en La Habana en la época de la Colonia, y fue la única que existió en la isla hasta que se fundó la de Santiago de Cuba en 1928. En definitiva, en Cuba llegaron a existir 12 Escuelas de Artes y Oficios.
Y además de la Academia de San Alejandro, a partir de 1934 se crearon en Cuba otras seis Escuelas de Bellas Artes, las cuales no sólo educaban a los pintores y escultores enseñándoles las técnicas de su arte, sino que también capacitaban a los que habrían de ser Profesores de Artes Plásticas.
Existieron también durante la época de la República algunas Escuelas de Enseñanza Especial que funcionaron a base de alumnos internos. El propósito era, principalmente, el de darles oportunidad de estudiar en el nivel secundario a jóvenes de familias poco pudientes, a fin de capacitarlos con una adecuada preparación técnica para que pudieran trabajar a nivel profesional. Entre estas escuelas de internos puede señalarse la existencia de tres Escuelas Técnicas Industriales, una en La Habana, con el nombre de «General José B. Alemán», otra en Santa Clara, que se llamó «Escuela Técnica Industrial, Fundación Rosalía Abreu» y otra titulada «General Milanés», que se creó en Bayamo.
Con este mismo carácter de funcionar a base de alumnos internos existieron en Cuba las Escuelas Politécnicas de grado medio o Escuelas Tecnológicas.
Las Escuelas Profesionales de Periodismo
fueron también escuelas de enseñanza especial, y tuvieron una gran importancia en la preparación de los Periodistas cubanos. La Primera de estas escuelas se fundó en el año 1942, y llevó el nombre de «Manuel Márquez Sterling».
En las mismas se expedía el título de «Periodista Graduado» y el de «Técnico Gráfico Periodista». Antes de la llegada del comunismo a Cuba también se habían creado Escuelas de Periodismo en Matanzas, Santa Clara y Santiago de Cuba, de manera que la República llegó a contar con cuatro escuelas de este tipo.Finalmente, es necesario mencionar al Instituto Nacional de Educación Física, que como único en su clase funcionó en La Habana a partir de 1948. Este Instituto perteneció a un nivel profesional superior, porque sus graduados estaban capacitados para ocupar cátedras de Educación Física en los centro de enseñanza de nivel secundario.
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https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00063578/00008 Educacion pag 96For Brooke to have initiated these changes within weeks of his arriving in Cuba speaks to his lack of cultural knowledge of the island and more to his attempt to instill efficiency in the system of government that matched what he was familiar with in the U.S.
This perspective appears to be on target with what JoséVarona stated in his first Annual Report to Governor-General Wood.From a review of the Annual Reports and the few letters that remain in the National Archives relative to his time in Cuba, Brooke appeared resigned to his assignment on the island,rather than excited by the opportunity. His reports read more as a listing of systems in various stages of repair, rather than how each of these changes affected the people of the island.
The reaction he had to most of the initiatives offered by his subordinates was one of disinterest as was indicated by his lack of action on the Board of Santiago report from January 25, 1899 and his shelving of the School Law that originated with Secretary Lanuza.
Despite his military efficiency, and perhaps due to it, he appears to be out of step with what was occurring to the population on the island. One indication was this assessment of the current agricultural conditions in his report from
October 1, 1899:
In fact, the era of prosperity appears to be at hand; all that is needed is to have capital satisfied as to the future conditions, and this being reasonably assured, there can be nodoubt but that the fertility of the soil and the industry of the people will work out a happy solution of the problem. (Brooke, 1900, p. 14)The disconnect that existed in Brooke’s assessment was indicative of his lack of comprehension of the great need that was still felt in all sectors of the island’s economy.Brooke did not appear to be in favor of annexation, instead he was determined to follow the constructs of the Joint Resolution of Congress to stabilize the island, assist in the formationof a new government, and then leave the Cuban people to their own devices.
His lack of action on many features that needed attention on the island led to his rift with General Wood, who he viewed as an upstart, having received his battlefield commission to General six short months earlier.
Brooke was also not fond of the Volunteer Army’s propensity to publish reports of their exploits on the battlefield. As did many Regular Army of his time, he viewed these actions asunseemly behaviors, not fitting the actions of a line-officer.
Brooke’s disagreements with Wood,and his lack of action to institute the needed corrections on the island, led to his eventualreassignment and the ascendency of General Wood to the post of Governor of Cuba.The inclusion of José Varona into the Occupational Government was one of the initial acts of General Wood. After requesting and accepting the resignations of all of the DepartmentSecretaries, Wood reconfigured the departments back to a system that was familiar to the Cuban people.
Following the reorganization of the structure he appointed new men to the command positions in each department. José Varona was initially appointed to be the Secretary of Finance,an office that had a great deal of power in the transitional government. Varona was an interesting selection for this position as he was not a financial specialist. Instead, Varona had themajority of his experience in education, particularly in the area of philosophy. Placing a philosophy professor at the helm of a financial department was a clear risk for Wood, howeverlittle change was made that negatively impacted the island’s economy during his tenure.
When Wood’s Secretary of Public Instruction resigned for health reasons, Wood shifted Varona to a position he was better qualified to manage. Once in his element, Varona began to impact change upon the struggling education system.
Not very impressed with the school law written by Alexis Frye, or the course of studies included in his Manual para Maestros, Varona met with Wood shortly after the reassignment.The gist of their discussion on May 13, 1900 was the development of a new course of studies anda restructuring of the management system for the segunda enseñanzas on the island. Having recently commissioned his Aide de Camp Lieutenant Matthew Hanna to draft a new school law,Wood must have been delighted by his new Secretary’s suggestion. Within six weeks’ time Varona rolled out the new plans for the high schools on the island.
Incorporated into the new School Law published under Civil Order No. 279, the improvements to the segunda enseñanzalevel were designed to formalize a path between Primary education and the University.Not satisfied to rest on his laurels, Varona next confronted the hallowed halls of the University of Havana. Declaring that nothing original had emerged from the university in thearea of research, Varona gutted the bloated institution by ending the tenure of all of the professors, restructured the faculties from six to three and reducing the number of colleges totwelve (Wood, 1900f). Once this was completed he rehired the professorate through a comprehensive and competitive examination based process. The rapid process with whichVarona managed these two tasks speaks to his deep understanding of the education system on theisland, one that was apparently missing in Alexis Frye.
Passionate is the first word that comes to mind when reviewing the writings of Alexis Everett Frye from Cuba. This emotion is evident from the start of his interest in gaining entry tothe Army to fight the Spanish in the Philippines, and exists in the heartfelt letter to the Cuban people he wrote in December of 1900. His response to Elihu Root’s testimony in the Woodhearings was packed full of emotion with clear evidence of his passion for the island of Cuba and the Cuban people. However, his passion was what eventually led to his undoing as he wasensconced in a group of military individuals who were much more practical than emotive.Frye’s arrival on the island came at a time of great controversy. His immediate supervisor, Governor-General John Brooke was soon to be relieved of his command due to theperception that nothing was occurring regarding the restructuring of the island’s school system and a lack of progress in many other areas
in the nineteenth century with as much precision as progress.Conservatives and liberals embraced it long before theSocial Darwinists made it their slogan in the latter partof that century.
The political scripts recalled Adam Smith’s 1776 vision of “the progress of society...[where] each individual becomes more expert in his own peculiar branch, more work is done upon thewhole, and the quantity of science is considerably increased.”12
Far from creating a focused image, the term produces (or at best, reproduces) the different visions that competed to establish modern states, in continuation of the confrontations triggered by the Bourbon reforms in the late colonial period.
The tensions continued both in Spain and in its colonies. Particularly in Cuba, where the sugar industry was technologically advancing, the quest for modernity found an outlet in cultural manifestations.
Manuel Moreno Fraginals eloquently characterized the technologically advancing culture of the nineteenth century as one experiencing an “intellectual adventure.”
13 The study of chemistry and botany supported the assertion.As the metropolis-colony relation deteriorated duringthe nineteenth century, Cuban intellectuals voicedconcern over the accompanying decline of educationin the island. Thus, the political manifestos of patriots—Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, José Martí—delineated the links between education and the state in a modern independent Cuba. Martí (1853–1895), in particular, was an educator and often expressed his views on the role of education in an open society. Hisexile in Spain coincided with the founding of the Instituto Libre de Enseñanza, in 1876 in Madrid, a privateinitiative led by Francisco Giner de los Ríos (1839–1915) to counteract the officially sanctioned lack ofacademic freedom in Spanish universities.
The project soon expanded instruction to the elementary and secondary levels, a major intellectual challenge to Spanisheducation, then controlled by the Catholic Churchthrough a rigid curriculum in line with the Thomistictradition. Giner applied the theories of German idealist Karl C. F. Krause (1781–1832) who emphasized the moral education of the individual in pursuit of universal harmony. Martí embraced the pedagogy of the Instituto, a holistic education in line with the transcendentalist vision (à la Emerson) that was to influence him during his years (1881–1895) living in theUnited States.Proscribed by the colonial authorities, Martí’s ideas oneducation would not impact the Cuban scene until the1920s, when the first generation born after independence studied the foundational literature of the Cuban nation.
Before that happened, wars for independence (1868–1878, 1879–1880, 1895–1898) and accompanying devastation affected all aspects of life in Cuba before the Republic of Cuba was established in 1902.
EDUCATING THE NATION-STATEThe Spanish-American War of 1898 was the finalphase of the Cuban wars of independence; it resultedin the United States military occupation of Cuba.
As part of an impressive reconstruction package, a Boardof Education was established in 1900 under the leadership of Enrique José Varona who, as Secretary of Public Instruction, enjoyed the support of the U.S. Commissioner of Education Alexis Frye.
The Board arranged new school districts and had created nearly3600 classrooms for 172,000 students (10.9% of the island’s population) by 20 May 1902 when the Republicof Cuba was promulgated.
Initiatives for teacher training led to the founding of the College of Education at the University of Havana, summer programs for Cuban teachers at Harvard University, and to opening of Normal Schools in each province by 1915.
The Cuban Constitution of 1901 (Title IV, article 31)guaranteed the civil right to offer and receive instruction in any subject. Subsequent legislation establishedcurricular and professional requirements for the nation’s degree-granting institutions.
Data published by García Tudurí and others illustrate the significant development of the Public School system in Cuba prior Cuba in Transition • ASCE 2008
to the Revolution of 1959 as well as its shortcomings.To complement this important information, let usprivilege three Cuban educators from the early republican period:
Enrique José Varona, María Luisa Dolz,and Arturo Echemendía.Enrique José Varona (1849–1933) was the first Cuban to elaborate a congruent philosophy of education.
A follower of John Stuart Mill and HerbertSpencer, he brought knowledge of psychology, moralphilosophy, and sociology to his pedagogy. As Secretary of Public Instruction during the American occupation, he set the pace for the many reforms that took off at that time. His “Plan Varona” set a four-year program of studies for the secondary schools, the official curriculum until 1940, when a five-year program became the standard under the “Plan [Juan J.] Remos.”Receptive to recommendations, Varona followed theadvice of Cuba’s leading educator of women, MaríaLuisa Dolz, to establish a chair of Education at the university level.
María Luisa Dolz y Arango (1854–1928) began educating Cuban women in 1873 and, for the next fifty years, she dedicated her life to the development of Cuban pedagogy. Realizing the need to receive formal training herself, she completed a doctorate at the University of Havana and visited forty schools during a research trip to France and Germany in 1905.
A strong believer in the importance of methodology (more sothan content), she proposed the establishment of aCollege of Education at the University of Havana. Herconcerns for the educational system included the promotion of physical education programs.
She attracted the best scholars and educators to her school, always emphasizing the freedom of the student:
The open political system we desire for our country cannot contradict the educational system.
Free citizens cannot be educated employing the same means applied by those who perpetuate tyranny.
One cannot prepare children to lead a life of freedom within aprison, nor is it possible to instill in them the value ofcivic engagement if all their initiatives meet rejection.
If educating free men of strong and unassailable character who are capable of making decisions for themselves is the goal, then it is essential that a modern, liberal, and discreet code of conduct replace that disciplinary code suited for prisons, barracks, or convents, places where the surveillance of all actions leadsto the atrophy of the will.
Identifying the education of women with their needfor juridical rights, María Luisa Dolz became a leadingfeminist.
Arturo Echemendía y Molino (1880–1934)
taught for twenty years at the Matanzas Institute, the provincialpublic secondary school, where he formulated a methodology for teaching at this level. A contributor to educational journals, such as Cuba Pedagoga, Revista de la Facultad de Letras y Ciencias, and Revista de Instrucción Pública, he articulated his experiences in the classroom. While he believed that the secondary school years were crucial to train a “legion of prepared citizens,” a democracy’s best minds, he cautioned against creating a system that promoted the cultural divorce ofthe elite and the masses by limiting the education ofthe latter to a utilitarian and vocational curriculum.
The cultural manifestations of Cuba during the earlytwentieth century attest to growing significance of Cuban education. Cuba’s student movement of the 1920sand the Revolution of 1933 cannot be discussed with. The most thorough study of Cuban education in the first half of the twentieth century was prepared by Mercedes García Tudurí,1952, Historia de la nación cubana (La Habana), X, book 2. A revised version (with more statistics) appeared in García Tudurí, 1974, “La educación en Cuba,” in La enciclopedia de Cuba (Madrid: Playor, S.A.): VI, 521–556. See also the sources cited in note 15. Choice made by Alfredo Miguel Aguayo (1866–1948), the leading Professor of Education at the University of Havana. See Aguayo,1937, Tres grandes educadores cubanos: Varona, Echemendía, María Luisa Dolz (La Habana: Cultural, S.A.).16. See Medardo Vitier, 1949, Enrique José Varona: su pensamiento representativo (La Habana); and Aguayo.17. As cited by Aguayo, 63.18. See K. Lynn Stoner, 1991, From the Houses to the Street (Durham: Duke University Press).19. See Aguayo, 38, 41 and Arturo Echemendía, 1909, Alrededor de la escuela. Con la colaboración de Raúl Miranda. (Matanzas), andEchemendía, 1919, “Orientaciones de la segunda enseñanza,” Revista de la Facultad de Letras y Ciencias.Revolution and Continuity in Cuban Educationout due attention to the national conscience of Cubanyouth.
20 Even when the real locus of protest was theUniversity of Havana, secondary schools throughoutthe island staged public demonstrations of solidarity.When a new Constitution was promulgated in 1940,Title V, Section II guaranteed private schools the rightto teach religion and to instruct any subject throughmethods and contents of their choice.
The new charterreflected the quest for a modern identity amidst the influence and the interference of both, the Spanish pastand the United States. On educational policy, itsought the convergence of two conflicting traditions:on one hand, the pedagogical scholarship of educatorslike Varona, Dolz, and Echemendía, among otherssince the eighteenth century, whose thinking was rooted in the European Enlightenment; on the other hand,the realities of a nation-state embedded in the Hispanic neo-Thomist tradition.
By the 1950s, Cuba’s educational history had developed along a modern path within the Enlightenment’ssecular tradition but checked by significant academiccompetition provided by the Roman Catholic Churchand the increasing number of lay private schools.
The critics sought remedies in the context of a history of education tied to an enlightened vision that José Martí, Cuba’s leading patriot, had directed to the education of children, a subject to which he devoted frequent attention.
Many believed that the Revolution of 1959 would implement Martí’s vision. BUT NOT SO FAST ..IT DID NOT ANYTHING BETTER EXCEPT TO AMPLIFY THE ENROLLMENTS OF MORE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE WHAT WAS ALREADY DONE. MARXIST INDOCTRINATION WAS THE MAIN AND FIRST OBJECTIVES.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1959Marxist dogma replaced Cuba’s philosophy of education as a major component of the 1959 Revolution’sefforts to create a new socialist man. The Revolutionsought to mobilize the Cuban population by using education to promote its embrace of Marxist-Leninistideology. The Literacy Campaign of 1961 marked thefirst mass mobilization that would subsequently characterize the regime.21 Campaigns of volunteers went tothe Cuban countryside to teach curricula modified atall levels to promote socialist objectives. The regimesoon began opening Escuelas de Instrucción Revolucionaria (Schools for Revolutionary Instruction) andsending students to Communist countries to studyMarxism-Leninism and its corresponding pedagogy.The government claimed to have graduated 100,000students from the Escuelas de Instrucción Revolucionaria by the end of 1961.22 Finally, Che Guevara’s article “Man and Socialism in Cuba” provided the guidingprinciple of educational policy’s quest to create el hombre nuevo (the new man) after 1965.23The Cuban educational experiment soon exhibitedfeatures that would continue to characterize it fornearly five decades, although qualitative revisionswould take place during the 1970s. Both apologistsand critics attribute to the Cuban educational system:(1) universal access; (2) the objective to engender the20. I have discussed this subject in detail in Cruz-Taura, 1989, “Student Political Activism in Cuba,” in Student Political Activism: An International Reference Handbook. Edited by Philip G. Altbach. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press).21. For a detailed account of educational policy after 1959, see Nikolái Kolésnikov, 1983, Cuba: Educación popular y preparación de loscuadros nacionales, 1959–1982 (Moscow: Editorial Progreso). The most thorough evaluation on the literacy campaign of 1961published inCuba is that by Felipe de J. Pérez Cruz, 2001, La alfabetización en Cuba: Lectura histórica para pensar el presente (Havana: Editorial deCiencias Sociales). For examples of the most analytical accounts available in the literature in English, see Richard Jolly, 1964, “The LiteracyCampaign and Adult Education,” in Cuba: The Economic and Social Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press); Jonathan Kozol, 1978, “A New Look at the Literacy Campaign in Cuba” Harvard Educational Review 48, 3(August): 341–77; Martin Carnoy,1990, “Socialist Development and Educational Reform in Cuba,” in Hill Nasson and John Samuel, eds., Education from Poverty to Liberty(South Africa: Creda Press); and Karen Shaffer Vocke, 2001, “Literacy and Ideology in Cuba’s Special Period” (Toledo, OH: University ofToledo, Ph. D. dissertation)22. MINFAR, 1965, Cuba: A Giant School (Havana: Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs).23. Ernesto Guevara, 1968, Venceremos: The Speeches and Writings of Che Guevara (New York: Simon and Schuster): 391.Cuba in Transition • ASCE 2008174new socialist man, based on Marxism-Leninism; (3) awork-study component; (4) promotion of economicdevelopment-scientific/technological studies; (5) centralized decision making; (6) school-community relations through official mass organizations; and (6) rewards and deprivations determined by politicalprofiling of students.24By 1970, Cuban schooling had reached every child inthe island nation, an accomplishment that would often overshadow the weaknesses of the system, whichincluded grade repetition and a high dropout rate.25 Atissue was the acute need for teachers, which requiredcontinued reliance on maestros emergentes, youngteachers trained after completing the ninth grade.These problems were highlighted at the 1971 First National Congress of Education and Culture in Havana.The main recommendation to remedy the series offailures in the system was to devote more resources tothe proper training of Marxist teachers. Beginning the1971–1972 school year, the Ministry of Education began operations through an intricate bureaucracy withmultiple departments, each designated to handle everypossible component of the educational system. Thesereforms must not have seemed enough to Castro, whoadded criticisms during a speech to the CommunistYouth Congress in 1972. The signal from the top wasclear: the Ministry of Education set out to revise itsplans in time for approval at the First Cuban Communist Party Congress in 1975.The Plan de Perfeccionamiento del Sistema Nacionalde Educación [Improvement Plan for the NationalEducation System] of 1975–76 provided the guidelines to improve the quality of education in closer association with the Communist Party in order to bettersatisfy economic and ideological goals. The party congress also promulgated a new constitution with specific references for education; the 1976 charter declaredMarxism-Leninism the only acceptable ideology. 26The ideological price was high. Thought control increased with additional mechanisms to monitor Marxist orthodoxy in the classroom. These mechanismsranged from school records on student revolutionaryactivism and discipline to supervision of faculty bymilitant specialists. While Cuban publications, such asEducación, ran (and still run) articles recommendingparental involvement in Cuban education, the government continued to control the relationship betweenparents, community, and school. All communicationis channeled through mass organizations and directedby political personnel. British educational analystMark Richmond finds that:…the full flavour of the Cuban educational modelwould be lost without mentioning the active participation of the whole community in performing abroad, diverse range of educational tasks and duties.This participation is channeled through a number ofpolitical and mass organizations, including the Cuban Communist Party, the Young Communists, thePioneers, student federations, trade unions, the Federation of Cuban Women, the School Councils, theCommittees for the Defense of the Revolution, andthe Local Organs of People’s Power. This widespread,popular involvement is an essential aspect of the Cuban educational model, being a vital expression of theattempt to break down the barriers between schooland society.27While Richmond could not avoid enthusiasm aboutthe Cuban model’s access component, he recognizedthat it could be interpreted as “a recipe for totalitarianeducation” or as “national liberation.”2824. This section was summarized from Cruz-Taura, 2003, Rehabilitating Education in Cuba: Assessing of Conditions and Policy Recommendations (Miami: University of Miami Institute for Cuban and Cuban Studies, Cuban Transition Project): 3–27.25. Lowry Nelson, 1971, “The School Dropout Problem in Cuba,” School and Society 99(April): 234–35.26. Most pertinent are Chapter V: Articles 39, 40; and Chapter VI: Article 43. See also Chapter I: Articles 5, 6; and Chapter IV: Articles35, 38. In http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/Constitutions/Cuba/cuba1992.html.27. Mark Richmond, 1990, “The Cuban Educational Model and Its Influence in the Caribbean Region,” in Education in Central Americaand the Caribbean, eds. Colin Brock and Donald Clarkson (London: Routledge): 73–74.28. Richmond, 1990, 74. Richmond was disappointed that by the mid-1980s, democratization of education was not manifesting itself indecision-making processes at the local levels. By then, rather than decentralizing policy, the leadership launched a Rectification Campaignand the coercive force of the Cuban state was once again repressing its educated population to counteract the Soviet glasnost.Revolution and Continuity in Cuban Education175During its third decade, the Cuban Revolution provided a picture to the world that all was well in its educational system. Sending teaching brigades to Angolaand Nicaragua and physicians and engineers the worldover, Cuba appeared to be an educational power. Athome, by maintaining its initial strategy of reaching everyone, literacy was a reality throughout the island andschooling through the ninth grade was available to all.Nevertheless, before the end of the 1980s, admissionto the university was reduced by 50 percent and rejected candidates had to settle for vocational or technicalschools. To Castro, the problem was more politicalthan economic. He saw failure in the product theschools delivered. Marxist pedagogy had not sufficedto create the new man seeking to fulfill revolutionaryobjectives and develop the national economy.Ultimately, Castro’s combined praise and chastisement of revolutionary education amounts to what analyst Jean-Pierre Beauvais has described as “the moststriking of the many contradictions of the Cuban revolution—high political consciousness and low ‘economic consciousness’ of the masses.”29 Beauvais’s critical eye allowed him to analyze the achievements andfailures of the Cuban revolutionary experiment, butsuch broad analyst is rare among those who have visited the island over the decades. The Cuban Revolutionoften succeeds in presenting an image that dismissesthe flaws in its educational system as matters thatwould be overcome with persistence in existing methods until a new generation internalized its ideology.Conditions after 1991, following the collapse of theSoviet Union, blatantly exposed the weaknesses of theCommunist world and significantly thwarted the Cuban regime’s ability to promote itself. Some of uswould characterize the post-Soviet period as one of retrenchment but the government called it the “SpecialPeriod in a Time of Peace.” Two features that the government maintained in its educational policy havebeen to continue (1) promoting Marxism-Leninism,in spite of the changing circumstances in the nationand in the world;30 and (2) the allocation of about 10%of the Gross Domestic Product to the education sector. As the national budget decreased, so did that foreducation in absolute figures; however, after 1996, expenditures for education have risen.31The loss of Soviet subsidies diminished investments indomestic services and forced the government to legalize possession of the U.S. dollar. The Special Period’simmediate manifestation in the classrooms was the reduction of school supplies and textbooks; moveover,support programs, such as school lunch and adult enrichment education, were indefinitely suspended orcurtailed. The most damaging manifestation camefrom the dollarization of the economy and the promotion of foreign tourism. An average monthly teachingsalary of 350 pesos has the market equivalent of twelveU.S. dollars, contributing to the exodus of teachersfrom the profession, as diversion to the tourist economy provides the needed supplement to a teacher’s income.32 Ironically, the revolution’s greatest accomplishment in education was its reach-out programsinto the rural areas, but these are precisely the regionsmost affected by the decline in the number of teachers.The countryside, where access to the tourist economyis least likely, can only attract the most devoted teacher.33 Just as the dollar economy lures teachers away29. Jean-Pierre Beauvais, 1983, “Achievements and Contradictions of the Cuban Workers’ State,” in Crisis in the Caribbean, eds. FitzroyAmbursley and Robin Cohen (New York: Monthly Review Press): 49.30. “Requerimientos básicos para el Período Especial en los centros docentes,” Educación, 21(June 1991): 23–26; and Oneida ÁlvarezFigueroa, 1997, “El sistema educativo cubano en los noventas,” Papers: Revista Sociológica 52: 115–37.31. Ibid. and Uriarte, 34–37.32. Magali Estrada, 2000, “Alarmante éxodo de profesores de alto nivel,” Buró de Prensa Independiente de Cuba (22 September). http://www.bpicuba.org/otros/alarmante.htm. On college students volunteering to substitute in schools, see “Ninguno de los actuales problemas,” Granma. http://ww.granma.cubaweb.cu/temas11/articulo58.html.33. During a study tour, Gasperini was informed that “new professional activities, especially in tourism and in foreign firms [have caused]teacher attrition of 4 to 8 percent in the eastern oriental provinces, where tourism is more developed.” In Lavinia Gasparini, 2000, “TheCuban Education System: Lessons and Dilemmas,” In The Education Report and Management Publication Series, vol. 1, no. 5 (Washington: The World Bank): 7.Cuba in Transition • ASCE 2008176from the profession, students are also lured away fromthe academic tracks by the emoluments of the touristeconomy.34Policies that helped the government control educationand improve statistics in the early days of the Revolution have become double-edged swords. While damages may have been minimized by the structured andcontrolled nature of the educational system, its rigidityhas also backfired. First and foremost, the system purposely sought to remove the family from the educational enterprise, unless contact was made via officialstructures. From nursery to higher education, the revolutionary government promoted an educational system divorced from direct home influence, emphasizing the paternal role of the state in providing for itspeople. While the Constitution and the media claimthat the family must be directly involved in children’seducation, this involvement must be channeledthrough official organizations. During the Special Period, at a time when educators have been frequentlyabandoning the profession, the lack of parental pressure on the system and on the children to attendschool and study has often been absent. Any parent involvement in schools is channeled through local official organizations, stifling any community-based effortto complement child education or to demand betterservices from the authorities.Also backfiring is the state’s paternal role in assigningrewards, fields of study, and employment guarantees tograduates. Having absorbed the traditional individualdecision-making process by planning and promisingplacement, the state finds itself unable to deliver positions to many graduates due to the changing globaleconomy, its legalization of dollar transactions, and
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