Institute of International Education

Department of Education

Cuba

An Education Sector Diagnosis

of Primary Education

Assignment for the course

Educational Planning - Theory and Practice

Tania Rempatsiou

January, 2016
(source: anticapitalistes.net)

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Contents

Abbreviations 4
List of figures and tables 5
1. Introduction 6
1.1 Aims and objectives 7
1.2 Methodology 7
1.3 Limitations 7
2 Context
2.1 Demography, geography and natural environment 8
2.2 Political and historical context 9
2.3 Economy 10
2.4 Education 12
3. Analysis of the key concepts
3.1 Access 13
3.2 Internal efficiency 15
3.3 Equity 16
3.4 Quality of education
3.4.1 Teachers 18
3.4.2 Curriculum 19
3.4.3 Achievements and learning outcomes 21
3.5 External effectiveness 23
3.6 Costs and financing 23
3.7 Management of the educational sector 24
4. Priority problems and recommendations 25
4.1 Youth unemployment 26
4.2 Freedom of expression 26
4.3 Teacher’s salaries 27
4.4 Technology education 28
4.5 Environmental education 28
5. Reflection on the ESD techniques 29
6. Conclusion 30
References 31
Appendices

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Abbreviations

AAUW – American Association of University Women

CENESEX - Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual
CIA – Central Intelligence Agency
CEPDE – Centro de Estudios de Población y Desarollo
ESD - Education Sector Diagnosis
GDP – Gross domestic product
GER – Gross Enrollment Rate
IIEP – International Institute for Educational Planning
IMF – International Monetary Fund
LGBT – Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
LLECE – Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education
MoE – Ministry of Education
NER – Net Enrollment Rate
OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
ONE – Oficína Nacional de Estadisticas
PS – Pedagogic schools
UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund
UPS – University of Pedagogic Sciences
WPC – World Policy Center

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List of figures and tables

Figure 1 GDP official exchange rate p.10

Figure 2 GDP (real growth rate) p.11
Figure 3 Unemployment rates for both sexes p.11
Figure 4 Gross enrollment rate in primary education p.14
Figure 5 Net enrollment rate in primary education p.14
Figure 6 Primary completion rate p.15
Figure 7 Repeaters female and male respectively p.16
Figure 8 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments p.17
Figure 9 Trained teachers in primary education, in percentage of total teachers p.19
Mean and variability of Sixth Grade Mathematics median scores in
Figure 10 p.21
each surveyed country
Mean and variability of Reading scores obtained by Sixth Grade
Figure 11 p.22
students in each surveyed country
Figure Unemployment, youth female and male respectively (% of labor force
p.23
12& 13 ages 15-24) (modeled ILO estimate)
Figure 14 The priority problems diagnosed in Cuban primary education p.25
Table 1 Curriculum of primary education in Cuba p.20
Table 2 Expenditures in education in Cuba, in percentage p.24
Image 1 Map of Cuba p.8

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1. Introduction

This paper focuses on the primary education in Cuba that has faced a wide range of social and
political changes during the post-colonial era. However, according to World Bank (Bruns and
Luque, 2014), Cuba’s educational system has the best quality and effectiveness in Latin America
and it is also the only country that has achieved all the Education for All goals in the region
(UNESCO, 2015). At the same time Cuba is a developing country and one of the poorest nations
in the world. Therefore, questions arise over what has led Cuba to achieve a high quality education.
The paper will focus on the primary education which is the basis of the educational system, where
the students actually learn how to learn and gain the basic knowledge to continue to the next
educational levels.

According to Coombs (1970) as cited below:

Educational planning, in its broadest generic sense, is the application of rational, systematic
analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making education more
effective and efficient in responding to the needs and goals of its students and society.
(Coombs, 1970, p. 14)

Through the Education Sector Diagnosis the basic information of the educational system of Cuba
will be provided, in order to reveal whether education is truly responding to the needs of the society
and what the strategy and the methodology that leads to success is. Furthermore, the paper will
mention the challenges and the difficulties that Cuba may be facing. We hope that the analysis
gives the answer or the inspiration to at least the rest Latin America to deal with the major problems
of education. The analysis may also help the educational planners to respond to the unsatisfied
needs of the school, the teachers and the society in general. Educational planners are the key
because as Coombs mentioned “they must look, for instance, at the state of the society, where it
wants to go, and what it will require, educationally, to get there;” (Coombs, 1970, p.15)

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1.1 Aims and objectives

The aim of this paper is to provide information and make an analytical review on the primary
sector of the education system of Cuba. Furthermore, the paper is to address the existing issues
and provide suggestions so that the state deal with them. Through the Education Sector Diagnosis
(ESD) there will be revealed the structure and organization of the education system, the problems
that it is facing and what development and implementation should be done in order to cope with
these problems. The paper will initially provide a contextual analysis of Cuba that will include the
demographics, the geography, the political and economic context and the form of the education
system of the country. Finally, some proposals and recommendations will be provided, in order to
contribute to dealing with these issues.

1.2 Methodology

The analysis that is provided in this paper is based on the “Analytical Framework of an Education
Sector Diagnosis” that is a tool of IIEP, the International Institute for Educational Planning. This
tool is used by educational planners or researchers so that they form an overall image of a specific
educational sector. The Education Sector Diagnosis (ESD) makes an analysis of an educational
system within the social, political and economic context of the respective country. The IIEP tool
provides eight key aspects that together should form a complete image of the specific educational
sector. These key aspects are: context, access, internal efficiency, equity, quality, external
effectiveness, costs and financing and lastly management (IIEP, n.d., p.5). This paper will apply
these key aspects to the case of Cuba and more specifically to primary education.

1.3 Limitations

As it has been mentioned above, this paper is about a specific country, which is Cuba, about the
education system of the country and more concretely about the primary education level. However,
additional data and information will be provided when it is necessary. As regards the data
providing, there are not any available ones from 2013 and on. Therefore, the analysis is based
mainly on the data provided for the years 2006-2013. Furthermore, Cuba is not cooperating with

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international economic organizations, such as OECD, IMF and World Bank. As a result, the
information provided about financial resources is mainly estimations. Lastly, there are no adequate
information available about the allocation of financial resources for education and thus this aspect
is not being analyzed.

2.Context

This chapter will provide a synopsis of the context of Cuba. Information about the demographics,
natural environment, the history, the culture and the language, the economy and social well-being
and the political setting will be addressed. Moreover, the financial and managerial capacity of the
educational sector and the challenges that are being faced will be analyzed.

2.1 Demography, geography and natural environment

Image 1: Map of Cuba, (National Geographic, n.d.)

Cuba is an island nation that is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean,
in the north of Latin America and about 150 km south of Florida. Cuba has a total area of 110,860
sq. km, including land and territory waters. The country’s coastline is about 3,735 km. Cuba is the
largest country in the Caribbean. The terrain is “mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and
mountains in the southeast” (Cia.gov, 2015). The highest peak is Pico Turquino 2,005m which is
part of the Sierra Maestra mountain range and it is located in the southeast of the island. The main

8
part of the land is agricultural (60.3%) -arable land 33.8%; permanent crops 3.6%; permanent
pasture 22.9% - and the other part is mainly forest 27.3%. Cuba’s basic natural resources are metals
(i.e. cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium and copper), salt, timber, petroleum and arable land. The
climate is characterized as tropical that is moderated by trade winds. There are two seasons in
Cuba, the dry season (November to April) and the rainy season (May to October). The population
is estimated to be 11.238.317 inhabitants, 5.601.414 of whom are men and 5.636.903 are women.
There are three ethnic groups that form the population which are: white 64.1%, mestizo 26.6%,
Afro-Cubans 9.3%. “Mestizo” is named a person of mixed race, especially one having Spanish
and American-Indian parentage. The multiethnic population indicates the colonial history of the
country. The capital city of Cuba is Havana and has 2.119.607 inhabitants. Lastly, the official
language of the country is Spanish. (CEPDE, 2015)

2.2 Political and historical context

According to The World Factbook, Cuba became a colony of Spain after C.Colombus had
discovered it. Slaves from Africa were transferred in order to work in the coffee and sugar
plantations and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain
from Mexico and Peru. After many attempts by Cubans to be liberated from the Spanish rule the
final liberation came after the intervention of the USA. However, there was an agreement (Platt
Amendment) that authorized the US to intervene in Cuba in the event of instability. Finally, the
Cuban independence from the US came in 1902. During the following years the country was ruled
mainly by military and corrupted politicians. In 1959 Fidel Castro and his rebel communist army
gained the power and ruled the country for almost five decades. Afterwards, in February 2008, F.
Castro quit and he was succeeded by his younger brother Raul Castro, who is currently the
president of Cuba.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, the right to education is for free and
guaranteed for everybody and at all levels. Specifically, in the article 39 (UNESCO, 2015, p.1,
own translation) it is mentioned that education is based on the conclusions and contributions of
science and regarding the closest relation of education to life, work and production, “Se basa en
las conclusiones y aportes de la ciencia y en la relación más estrecha del estudio con la vida, el

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trabajo y la producción” The law expresses the necessity of education in Cuba and that every
citizen shall fulfill at least the basic, compulsory education.

2.3 Economy

Cuba has a planned economy, which means that most of the means of production are owned and
run by the government and most of the labor force is employed by the state. However, the
government tries to balance the need for loosening its socialist economic system. Since April 2011
the Communist Party has encouraged self-employment and has led to the rise of so-called
"cuentapropistas" or entrepreneurs. The average Cuban's standard of living remains low since the
Soviet Union collapsed and the resulting downturn of the 1990s despite the efforts of the
government to help the economy. The production of the country as it is presented in GDP
percentage is: agriculture 4% (coffee, tobacco, sugar, citrus), industry 22.4% (mainly petroleum,
nickel, cobalt, pharmaceuticals) and services 73.5%. (Cia.gov, 2015)

Moreover, because of the political regime, Cuba rejected relationships with international economic
organizations, like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the OECD. Therefore,
the economic data that have been found are mostly estimations. According to World Bank, the
GDP (official exchange rate) of Cuba in 2013 was US$77.15 billion (figure 1).

Figure 1: GDP official exchange rate, source: World Bank

The GDP real growth rate estimated by CIA is 1.3% in 2014, 2.7% in 2013 and 3% in 2012, which
places Cuba in the 172nd position in comparison to the rest of the countries. As it is shown on the

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diagram 2, Cuba’s economic growth used to be increased before 2006, when it started to decline
because of the long-term effects that Soviet Union’s collapse had on Cuba’s economy. However,
there are indications that the education and health sector have been slightly affected by this decline,
because they were the first priorities for the government.

Figure 2: GDP (real growth rate), source: World Bank

According to World Bank, the unemployment rate for both sexes was 3.2 percent in 2013 (figure
3). To be more concrete, during the year 2013 the unemployment rate for women was 3.9 percent,
while for men it was 2.9. These numbers may explain the reason that there are a big number of
female sex workers in Cuba. Furthermore, as reported by CIA there are unofficial estimations that
are the real figures are twice as high as the ones presented above. Lastly, there are no available
data about the poverty rate in the country.

Figure 3: Unemployment rates for both sexes, source: World Bank

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2.4 Education

Education in Cuba is number one priority for the government and for this reason Cuba’s
expenditure to education reaches almost 10 percent of the GDP, according to UNESCO
(Data.uis.unesco.org, 2015). Before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Cuba faced great rates of
illiteracy among young people, mainly because schools were not accessible to low social classes.
When the Communist Party gained the power it reconstructed the schools and declared education
as free and available for every Cuban citizen, as it was mentioned in chapter 2.2. The educational
system of Cuba is divided by the levels below:

1. Preschool education: It is addressed to children from 0 to 6 years old before they enter the
compulsory education. The curriculum focuses on the knowledge and development of the
children, according to their age and interests. The educators organize independent activities
by taking into consideration the needs of each child. The independent activities can include
role games, painting, crafts, pedagogical/music/drama games, walks or anything that the
educator considers appropriate.
2. Primary education: It is compulsory for every child 6-11. It consists of six grades and
“the top goal is to raise the quality of teaching-learning process, in order to ensure {…}
the social justice that our State aims at” (Cubaeduca.cu, 2015, own translation, “la meta
superior es elevar la calidad en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, para garantizar {…}
la justicia social que propugna nuestro Estado).
3. Basic secondary education: BSE is compulsory as well and children 12-14 attend it. There
are four types of secondary education, the urban secondary schools (ESBU) and the rural
secondary schools (ESBEC), the vocational schools of art (EVA) and the sports initiation
schools (EIDE).
4. Pre-university education: It covers the 10th to 12th grades (14-18 years old). At this level
the young citizens expand, deepen and generalize their knowledge, enrich their skills and
qualifications to continue with the university studies. Moreover, they are at the point of
making important decisions for their future professional life.
5. Technical and professional education: It consists of three departments. The 1st
department includes specialties such as: Mechanic, Electricity, Construction, Chemistry,

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 Geodesy and Cartography and skilled worker specialties. The 2nd department includes
Agricultural Services, Social Services and Accounting. Lastly, the 3rd department includes:
Informatics and Automation, Electronics and Telecommunications.
6. Special education: In special schools, the basic curriculum of general education is applied,
with some curricular changes in order to adapt to the needs of the students.
7. Adult education: It includes courses for young people, language courses, preparation for
the university courses and programs related to working training and development divided
into different working sectors.
8. Teaching Staff Training: It is actually the University of Pedagogic Studies that aims to
prepare the future teachers. During the first three grades the students study exclusively at
the university. When they complete this circle of studies, they continue with practical
implementation in the classroom with the direction of their professors.

(Cubaeduca.cu, 2015)

3. Analysis of the key concepts

This chapter of the paper will analyze the seven key aspects of an ESD of primary education, which
are the access to primary education, the internal efficiency, the equity, the quality of education, the
external effectiveness of education, the costs and financing and the management of education
sector.

3.1 Access

As it was mentioned above in chapter 2.4, primary education is for free and compulsory for all
children at the age of 6-11. Three different sources have been used to collect the available data
about school enrollment to primary education, which are the World Bank database, the UNICEF
statistics and the ONE statistics. There are only very slight differences between the presented data
that do not affect the quality of the result. According to the above sources, it does not seem that
there is an important issue with the access to primary education, as the enrollment rates are quite
high. The figures of UNICEF and ONE show the enrollment rates until 2012 and only the World

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Bank data give information about the year 2013. As the figures below show the GER (figure 4)
used to be quite high for the years 2009-2011, but a slight decline is shown after 2012.

Figure 4: Gross enrollment rate in primary education, in percentage (World Bank)

As far as the NER (figure 5) is concerned, there was an increase in the rates the years 2007-2010
and then during 2010 the rate started to decline and it reached 98% in 2011 and almost 96% in
2012 and 2013. As a result, there is 96% of children population of the corresponding age group
that is enrolled in primary education. The rates are high enough for a developing country especially
comparing to the average NER in Latin America which remains stable for years at almost 92%.
However, the data show that still not every child is enrolled in the primary education. There is an
approximately 4% of the children population that is not enrolled in school and that is not attending
school of course.

Figure 5: Net enrollment rate in primary education, in percentage (World Bank)

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Last but not least, there are no indications about how many children with disabilities attend to
school. The WPC (Worldpolicycenter.org, 2015) mapped the degree of integration of children with
disabilities in each country. The degree of integration in Cuba is at least medium. It means that
children with disabilities may attend the same schools as their peers, but they are not necessarily
taught in the same classroom.

3.2 Internal efficiency

The internal efficiency of the primary education in Cuba will be assessed by measuring the
dropouts and the repetitions of the students. According to the rates in figure 6, there was a high
completion rate during the years 2009-2011, when it started to slightly decline. The last indications
show that 95% (2012) and 93% (2013) of the student population in primary education finally
completes its studies. Subsequently, there is a percentage of 5% and 7% respectively that drops
out the primary school. These numbers seem to be in favor of the female population, as its complete
rate in 2012 is 96%, while in the male population it reaches 95%. Furthermore, the rates show that
the persistence of male students in the last grade of primary school is 95% and of the female
students is 97%. Hence, most students, who quit school, do not attain at least the last grade of
primary education.

Figure 6: Primary completion rate, in percentage (World Bank)

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Moreover, there is a percentage of repeaters that in 2012 was 0.4 for female students and 0.8 for
male students, which is the double percentage of female’s rate (figure 7). Therefore, male students
seem to be more vulnerable in repeating the same grade as female students. However, both rates
seem to be low in comparison to the repeater rates in Latin American and Caribbean that reach 6.4
in male population and 5.4 in female population in 2012. Additionally, these rates have declined
during the last years, as in 2006 they were even higher.

Figure 7: Repeaters female and male respectively, in percentage (World Bank)

3.3 Equity

The Cuban Constitution guarantees the equal treatment of both sexes, especially as regards the
access and participation in education. The figures in the previous chapter show that more female
students complete primary education than male and at the same time there are fewer repeaters who
are girls. However, UNESCO’s article (Grogg, n.d.) claims that it is necessary “to start focusing
on keeping boys in school, because Cuba is still a sexist society, and there are still many families
who see education for their sons as a means of bringing in the bread rather than to excel in their

16
chosen professional field”. Therefore, it seems to be necessary for the government to focus on
male students’ access and performance at school as well.

As regards the unemployment rates, they used to be low for both sexes until 2010, when they
started to raise and finally they reached 3.9% for women and 2.9% for men in 2013. The difference
in the unemployment rates has not been higher than 1% at least since 2006, as the indicators show.

Moreover, as World Bank’s data show (figure 8) women hold almost the half of the national
parliament seats (48.9% in 2015), which is a quite higher rate than the average in Latin America.
Thus, there is equal representation of both women and men in the national parliament.

Figure 8: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments, in percentage (World Bank)

A study of AAUW on Gender Equality and the Role of Women in Cuban Society (AAUW, 2011)
provide a great range of important information that statistics do not show clearly. Despite the fact
that gender equality has been guaranteed since 1976, female leaders admit that women and girls
have to work hard in order to reach fully equity. Inequity is presented in three parts of Cuban
society: 1) everyday home life 2) leader positions 3) traditional male fields. Even though
legislation grants both sexes equal rights and responsibilities in childcare, household and career,
the stereotypes of gender roles still persist and as a result women have greater responsibility in
these fields. In the academic environments women consist the majority of the students in social
studies, medicine and pedagogy, but they are a minority in the natural sciences, math and technical
studies, which are fields dominated mostly by men. Even though they have better performance in

17
academic scores than men, women do not have easy access to leadership positions in the university
due to the great range of responsibilities in their home life.

As regards the LGBT groups of people, there are reports that denounce homophobic attacks and
abuse, but no specific data or statistics have been found. In 1989, Mariela Castro, President
Castro’s daughter, funded and headed the CENESEX- Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual
(“National Center of Sexual Education”) in order to promote gender equality and also the rights of
LGTB people. According to the official website (CENESEX- Cuba, 2015), CENESEX in 1996
introduced Sexual Education in all the levels of national education through the project “Por una
Educación Responsable y Feliz” (“For a Responsible and Happy Education”, own translation).
Since then, a great emphasis is given by the government on the promotion of non-discrimination
and non-violence against women and LGBT people.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of U.S. Department of State (State.gov, 2014)
declares that the Afro-Cuban population faces racial discrimination especially in employment and
as regards representation in the government. However, no references to exclusion or discrimination
at school have been found.

3.4 Quality of education

Education is the major investment of Cuba, since the government from the first moment gives
priority to it. Cuba has a great reputation for the high quality education that offers comparing to
its economic situation that classifies it as developing country. In this chapter the quality of primary
education in Cuba is being examined from different aspects including educational inputs and
outputs. The way that government manages most aspects related to inputs like teaching staff,
curriculum, achievements and learning outcomes is described.

3.4.1 Teachers

Teachers are trained and educated in the public institutions of Cuba. There are two types of
institutions presented at the official website of Cuban education (Cubaeduca.cu, 2015). The
University of Pedagogic Sciences-higher level (Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas- nivel
superior) and the Pedagogic Schools- medium high level (Escuelas Pedagogicas- nivel medio

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superior). At the UPS there are two courses. During the first one, which lasts three years, students
study subjects related to psychology, sociology and pedagogy and they are prepared theoretically
for working in a school. The second course is actually the practical implementation of the teaching
methods in the classroom with the direction and counseling of their professors. The PS include
four years of studies and courses such as physiology, psychology, pedagogy and didactics and also
specialized courses connected to the educational level that the teacher will work at. Practical
implementation in schools is included in every semester since the first year of studies.
Subsequently, the teaching staff in primary schools is well-educated and well-prepared at a
theoretical and practical level. As it is presented in figure 9, every teacher who is working in
primary education has received the minimum organized teacher training, which is either UPS or
PS.

Figure 9: Trained teachers in primary education, in percentage of total teachers (World Bank)

3.4.2 Curriculum

The curriculum guarantees the access and participation of every child in free primary
education. Primary education consists of six grades, from age 6 to 11. The Ministry of
Education has prepared and edited full guidance about teachers that is titled “The Model of
Cuban primary school: a developing design of education, teaching and learning (“El Modelo
de escuela primaria cubana: una propuesta desarrolladora de educación, enseñanza y
aprendisaje”). It includes the pedagogical theory that the curriculum is based on, the suggested
methodologies, the psychological, social and pedagogical function of school and the
connection with the family and the society, the role of technology etc. The goal of this
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 document is to help teachers achieve high quality education based on scientific facts in order
to achieve the highest social aspiration:

Asegurar a todos los niños y niñas el acceso a la cultura, potenciar al máximo el

desarrollo de sus potencialidades individuales. Ofrecer a niños diferentes una
oportunidad igual de alcanzar los objetivos, dando posibilidades flexibles para su
desarrollo.

To guarantee for every child the access to culture, to maximize the development of their
individual potentials. To offer an equal opportunity to different children to achieve the
objectives, by giving flexible possibilities for their development.

(Montero y coautores, 2008, p.9, own translation)

As it is presented in the Studying Plan below, the curriculum emphasizes mainly on math and
the Spanish language, secondly on physical and labor education, as well as the EMQV (El
Mundo Que Vivimos- The world that we live in). Additionally, during the first two grades a
great emphasis is given in game activities (juego) as well.

Table 1: Curriculum of primary education in Cuba (http://www.cubaeduca.cu)

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The curriculum sets high standards for student performance. As Martin Carnoy (Carnoy, Gove
& Marshall, 2007, p.30) mentions, the math curriculum was imported by the German
Democratic Republic, it was translated into Spanish and it became the basis of Cuban education
until today. This curriculum is “demanding and provides a strong theoretical understanding of
math concepts and operations” (Carnoy, Gove & Marshall, 2007, p.30). It is important to know
the roots of the math curriculum as Cuba has a great reputation for the scores, especially in
mathematics.

3.4.3 Achievements and learning outcomes

Cuba’s high achievements in mathematics and language attracted the attention of international
organizations such as UNESCO. The Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the
Quality of Education (LLECE), which is coordinated by the Bureau of UNESCO in Latin
America, executed surveys regarding the achievements of students in Latin America (LLECE,
2008). The results were in favor of the Cuban students as they are presented in the figures
below.

Figure 10: Mean and variability of Sixth Grade Mathematics median scores in each
surveyed country (source: LLECE)

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 Figure 11: Mean and variability of Reading scores obtained by Sixth Grade students in
each surveyed country (source: LLECE)

According to Martin Carnoy who made a study on Cuba’s academic advantage (Carnoy, Gove &
Marshall, 2007), the reason that students in Cuba do well at school is the “social capital” and the
higher level of social equality in the society. In comparison to other Latin American countries,
Cuban state has officially more responsibility for the academic development of children than the
parents. Basic commodities such as meals, clothes (uniforms), educational materials and a safe
environment are provided by the state and child labor does not almost exist. As a result, students
do not have to be afraid of hunger and exploitation and they can better focus on academic
development. Furthermore, students in poor and rural areas enjoy the right to high quality schools
as the ones in the urban and rich areas of the country. As far as the “social capital” is concerned,
the population has completed at least the basic education and there is a high percentage that has
completed high education institutes. This way, the family background encourages and expects
children to do well at school.

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3.5 External effectiveness

Education is the most important investment of Cuban state and a way to fight inequality and
poverty and to create the conditions for the economic and social development of the country. As
it is hard to measure the quantitative contribution of education to economic development, this
chapter focuses on only one of the indicators to measure it which is the rate of youth
unemployment. Cuba’s rate of youth unemployment (ages 15-24) is estimated to be at 7.5% for
the years 2011-2014 for women and 6.5% for years 2010-2014 for men. These rates used to be
lower during the previous years, but there is a significant increase in unemployment especially for
young women, as it is shown in the figures below. These rates are quite low compared to those of
Latin America. However, CIA comments that these are the official data, but unofficial estimates
are about the double the official figures (Cia.gov, 2015).

Figures 12 & 13: Unemployment, youth female and male respectively (% of labor force ages 15-
24) (modeled ILO estimate), (source: World Bank)

3.6 Costs and financing

The public budget allocated by the government for education increased significantly during 2006
starting from 9.1% of the GDP and it continued to increase until 2008, when it reached the 14.1%
of the GDP (Data.worldbank.org, 2015). There no indicators found after 2010. The percentage of

23
the government expenditure is significantly high. However, the expenditures are not equally
allocated to the different educational levels. The financing of primary education varies between
33.7%-49.3% during the years 2006-2010 and has the lower percentage comparing to secondary
and tertiary education. Specifically, the average of expenditure in primary education is 43,7%,
while the average of secondary and tertiary education is 50,7% and 51,5% respectively. The
government through this expenditure provides primary students with free uniforms, day-meals,
educational material and textbooks. This way, parents do not have the responsibility to finance the
studies of their children. Unfortunately, there is no recent data available providing information
about the allocation of financial resources in education.

Table 2: Expenditures in education in Cuba, in percentage (data source: World Bank)

Average of years
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2006-2010
Expenditures on education
9.1 11.9 14.1 13.1 12.8 12.2
of GDP
Expenditures per student
(primary ed.) of GDP per 33.7 45.8 46.4 43.4 49.3 43.7
capita
Expenditures per student
(secondary ed.) of GDP 42.9 53.8 53.9 51 52.1 50.7
per capita
Expenditures per student
(tertiary ed.) of GDP per 34.4 39 61.1 60.1 63 51.5
capita

3.7 Management of the educational sector

Similarly to the Cuban society, the management system in Cuba is very controlled and regimented
and it is defined as hierarchical and bureaucratic. At the top position of the hierarchy is located the
Ministry of Education that decides, plans, organizes and monitors the implementation of

24
educational policies. The MoE controls provincial and municipal institutions and the directors of
schools as well through a hierarchical chain. The Cuban state strictly reinforces the implementation
of the national curriculum to every school through commands that begin from the MoE and end to
directors and assistants who supervise and consult teachers. Cuban municipalities are responsible
for the execution of annual testing of students in order to provide feedback for the MoE about
internal system evaluation. The state is based on the results of these tests to collect information
and thus organize the next reforms of the educational planning. Cuban schools have the whole
responsibility for the academic and social progress of the students. In case that a school cannot
handle the situation of a student, it has to address the issue to the municipality. Both municipality
and school assistants intend to deal with the issue by cooperating with the family. The assistants
oversee the progress of the student within school and family environment. (Oei.es, n.d.)

4. Priority problems and recommendations

Although Cuba seems to have solved some of the most important issues as regards its educational
system, there are still some challenges that need to be faced. This chapter of the paper will identify
five of the most crucial issues and it will recommend some measures. These issues are related to
both education and society, because even though the ESD has mainly focused on primary
education, some of these challenges are closer to the social sphere. The issues are presented in the
figure below. The tables with the issues, the recommendations and the expected outcomes can be
found in the appendices.

Figure 14: The priority problems diagnosed in Cuban primary education

Youth
Priority problems

unemployment
Freedom of
expression

Teacher's salaries

Technology
education
Environmental
education

25
4.1 Youth unemployment
As it is presented in the chapter 3.5 youth unemployment rate in Cuba is 7.5% for the years 2011-
2014 for women and 6.5% for years 2010-2014 for men (Data.worldbank.org, 2015). Women seem
to be more affected by unemployment than men. Nevertheless, there are unofficial estimations that
real youth unemployment rates are about twice as high as the reported ones (Cia.gov, 2015). This
way, the youth unemployment rate should reach about 15% for the years 2010-2014.
Unemployment leads young people to poverty and thus to migration. Moreover, it creates lack of
self-confidence and a sense of insecurity and instability for the future. Young people do not gain
any working experience and that makes it harder for them to find a job in the future.

Recommendations

Unemployment is a difficult and complex issue for a country to solve. It requires wide research on
the labour market and good organization and planning of the future reforms. It is mainly
recommended that the school connects to the labour market, so that there will be a better matching
between professions and market needs. The problem here is that the needs of labour market change
quite often and therefore the curriculum has to be flexible and dependent on them. This might
affect though the quality and the pluralism of education. Furthermore, the state should create
opportunities for vocational experience so that the youth can gain experience at workplaces and
confidence in their ability to work. The state should make a good planning and organize the
vocational practice according to the needs of the society and the offer of human resources. Funds
will be needed to for the payment of the employees. Lastly, the hardest challenge for the state is
to create job opportunities in order to face unemployment. However, it is important that those job
positions are mostly permanent and not temporary contracts.

4.2 Freedom of expression

The freedom of speech and the expression of political belief are not given in the Cuban society
and as a result in Cuban education. According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban constitution
declares that “Cuba's educational and cultural policy must adhere to the ideology of Marx and
Martí; promote communist training; and allow for free artistic creation, provided that its content
is not contrary to the Revolution” (Human Rights Watch, 1999). Even if this report is almost fifteen

26
years old, not much has changed in Cuban education. Parents have limited intervention in their
children’s academic development, while at school children face political indoctrination and strong
ideological content.

Recommendations

First of all, there must be a reform on the Constitution of Cuba that will establish the human right
to freedom of speech and expression, at least in the academic environments. However, the state
shows no political will to vote a legislation as it may undermine the integrity of the regime.
Moreover, it is important that parents are involved at a greater level in the academic development
of their children. School should organize meeting sessions with parents and organize projects in
which students can participate with their parents. At the same time, school should promote
academic initiatives, such as groups of discussions and actions according to the interests that
students will express and make sure that all voices are equally expressed.

4.3 Teacher’s salaries

Teachers have a significant role in Cuban education system, as they are well-trained practitioners
and the representatives of the state’s philosophy and policy. Cuban state has prioritized the
investment in education since 1959, but teachers have never been well-paid. According to the BBC
article (Ravsberg, 2012) teachers lack economic support and motivation and as a result there is a
lack of young people pursuing teaching career, while a great number of teachers quit. Therefore,
the quality of Cuban education may be at risk, since there will not be enough teachers in the future
and the ones that work are not satisfied –at least as regards their salary- with their job.

Recommendations

The state should face the problem, since the investments of all these years in education are at great
risk. It is important that the salaries of the teachers rise and they reach a level that teachers can live
with dignity so that they get the economic motivation. This reform is necessary for education, but
it requires a big investment by the state, since there are a great number of teachers in the country.
Furthermore, teachers should enjoy benefits such as free transportation or discount at specific

27
stores. This reform is not as important as the pay rise, but it can satisfy the needs of teachers and
become an incentive for young people to practice teaching professions.

4.4 Technology education

Technology education is not widespread at schools in Cuba. There are few computers and mostly
in urban schools and there is one hour per week dedicated to computers-“Computation” during
primary education (see chapter 3.4.2). Computers are not even connected to the Internet, as there
are a limited number of internet connections in the country. They mostly use educational television
programs and videotapes. During the last years there have been efforts to add more computers at
schools and develop educational software. Nevertheless, there is still need for development of
updated technology education at schools.

Recommendations

By introducing higher quality of technology education, students will have the opportunity to gain
technological skills that will promote their academic development and their qualifications for the
future. In order to develop the technology education, all schools in the country should be supplied
with computers or other gadgets such as tablets. This investment in education requires a high
financial cost because a great amount of technological equipment should be bought and also
teachers have to be trained in using it. At the same time more educational software should be
developed and used in the classroom as an interactive tool for students. However, it is of great
importance that schools are connected to internet, so that students have access to a great range of
information according to their needs. This recommendation is against the policy of the state, since
internet network is not developed in Cuba because of the government’s tight control.

4.5 Environmental education

There is not a subject related to environmental and ecological education in the curriculum of
primary education and therefore schools lack projects about recycling, reusing and sustainability.
Because of the environmental problems that arise around the world, it is important that
environmental education is included in every curriculum.

28
Recommendations

First of all, environmental education should be introduced to the school curriculum and combine
theoretical and practical activities. Students should participate in projects in order to raise
awareness in schools and society about the current environmental problems. Moreover, recycling
and reusing should be promoted at school. Recycling needs the appropriate infrastructure which is
not easy to be established and Cuba faces great weakness regarding the recycling industry. This
way, schools can promote the attitude of reusing material in order to cover their needs. The above
interventions can be adjusted to the available funds.

5. Reflection on the ESD techniques

ESD provides the reader with the social, political and economic context of Cuba so that a general
image of the country is formed. Afterwards, seven key aspects of Cuban primary educational
system are being analyzed, in order to present data and information that lead to the revelation of
the main issues that the system is dealing with. From my point of view, the analysis part of the
tool has worked efficiently since sufficient information for the most crucial aspects of education
has been provided. Through this process the priority problems have arisen, which is evidence that
this technique fulfilled its mission. Nonetheless, there are some doubts regarding the recommended
measures presented in chapter 3. The recommendations have been based on some concrete
knowledge of the author about Cuba, the one that is presented in this paper. By all means, there
are some other aspects of the social, political and educational life of Cuba that might have been
ignored, due to the time and source limitations. As a result, some recommendations might be
inadequate. Hence, except for the theoretical research, an educational planner should conduct field
research by visiting Cuba, contacting the authorities and becoming a constant observer of the
educational process and the way that issues are being faced by the stakeholders. This way, the
planner would have a complete image of the current situation in the country and in education and
therefore it would be possible to suggest more efficient reforms.

29
6. Conclusion

As Mark Bray and N.V. Varghese have mentioned “planning is a purposeful activity which aims
to secure better futures; but while planning shapes societies, it is also guided by them” (Caillods,
Bray and Varghese, 2011, p.298). Therefore, it is necessary that proposed reforms be planned and
figured by societies regarding their needs. Cuba’s special regime and policy on education has led
the country to academic success. Additionally, Cuban educational system is an example for other
countries proving that most problems can be solved when there is strong political will. However,
Cuba should pay attention to the remaining issues in order to improve its educational system and,
in the long run, its economy.

30
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34
Appendices

Priority problems Improvement measures

1. Youth unemployment - Connect education to the labour market

- Poverty - Create more opportunities for vocational
- Lack of work experience and perspective experience for the youth
- Creates a sense of insecurity and instability - Create more job opportunities
- Leads to migration

2. Freedom of expression
- Lack of freedom of speech
- Legislation of freedom of speech and
- Restriction of initiatives
opinion at schools
- Limited power of parents
- Involution of stakeholders in education
- Strong ideological content and political
- Promote academic initiatives
indoctrination

3. Lack of technology education - Introduce better quality of technology

- Most classes do not have computers education at schools
- There is no internet at schools, - Provide schools with educational software
- Students do not know the use of high - Connect computers to internet
technology at learning

35
 4. Lack of ecological and - Introduce environmental education in the
environmental education school curriculum
- There is none important reference about - Organize projects at schools to raise
this kind of education in the curriculum of awareness about the environmental
primary education problems
- Lack of projects about recycling and - Promote reusing and recycling at schools
sustainability

5. Low teacher salaries

- Lack of economical motivation
- The quality of education may be affected
- Increase the teacher salaries
- Less young people choose teaching
- Give economical motivations to teachers
professions
(i.e. transportation discount)
- There might be a lack of teaching staff in
the future

36
 Feasibility
Expected Acceptability
Recommendations Affordability (implementation
effect/impact (stakeholders)
capacity)
Youth unemployment
1) Connect education to High impact Strong Medium Medium
the labour market Mismatching of The state and youth will There will be a cost in Labour market needs
professions-needs will be supportive since both adjusting the curriculum change often and that
be reduced want to face the problem and training teachers means that the curriculum
has to be flexible and
dependable

2)Create more opportu- High impact Strong Medium Medium

nities for vocational Youth will gain Both youth and working State has to fund the Authorities have to make
experience for the youth experience at work and places will be benefited vocational practice a good planning and
self-confidence organize the vocational
practice

3)Create more job High impact High Medium Low

opportunities Development will be Most of the stakeholders The state should invest It is difficult to create
promoted and will be benefited money in order to create sustainable job positions
migration will be more job positions and it requires good
reduced planning and research
Freedom of expression
1) Legislation of High impact Medium High Low
freedom of speech and The freedom of speech Most parents and The cost of making a There is no political will
opinion at schools will be institutionalized students will be satisfied legislation is not high from the part of the state
as a human right but authorities will
strongly disagree

2) Involution of Strong impact Low High Low

stakeholders in Parents will contribute Authorities and teachers There is not any The authorities will not
education in the academic do not want parents to important financial let parents intervene in
development of their intervene affection children’s academic
children development

3)Promote academic High impact Medium Medium Low

initiatives Interests and opinions Students will accept this More resources will be The state will want to
will not be suppressed reform, but authorities needed to support these control and monitor these
anymore. New will disagree initiatives initiatives. It may end up
development ideas may to suppression again.
be provoked

2
Teacher salaries
1) Increase the teacher Medium Strong Medium High
salaries Teachers will not have The need of better Since there are a lot of
to worry about their payment is a wide- teachers the total cost The authorities have just
personal economic known issue and it will will be quite high to vote a legislation
situation be accepted

2) Give economical Medium Strong Strong Strong

motivations to teachers Teachers will feel that It is recognized that Financial benefits is easy Authorities need to find
(i.e. transportation their work is being teachers should have to be funded the way that they will
discount) recognized. More better economic provide financial benefits
people will apply for situation and contact specific
the job departments

3
Technology education
1) Introduce better High impact Strong Medium Medium
quality of technology Students will gain Students and teachers Technological Teaching staff should be
education at schools important technological will use a new and infrastructure at all trained in using
skills interactive tool for schools indicates the technology and also a
learning need of great financial great number of
resources that may not technicians should be
be available hired to establish
technological gadgets

2) Provide schools with Strong impact Strong Medium Strong

educational software Students and teachers Teachers and students The cost is quite low as Authorities will distribute
will use additional and will have a different and the main expense is the copies of software at
interactive tools during pleasant way of learning software developers and schools
the teaching process a basic amount of
computers at schools

3) Connect computers Strong impact Low Low Low

to internet A great range of Authorities will not There must be set an The MoE and the state
information and accept it. Parents may internet network from will not agree with
knowledge will be open feel insecure about the the beginning students accessing to
to students websites that their information not filtered
children visit by them

4
Environmental
education Strong impact Strong Medium Medium
1) Introduce Environmental Teachers and parents Even though the Authorities and teachers
environmental education will be a part will accept it without planning can be low should deal with this
education in the of official planning any objection cost, other funding may subject as equally as the
curriculum be priority others at school

2) Organize projects to Strong impact Medium Strong Strong

raise awareness Students will be aware Many stakeholders may These projects can be They can easily be
about the of the causes and the think that it is not a very adjustable at the organized by a group of
environmental consequences of priority problem in their available funds interested teachers at
problems environmental society school
problems

3) Promote reusing and Medium impact Medium Medium Medium

recycling at schools If there is no recycling Recycling needs good Recycling infrastructure Recycling might be more
infrastructure at school organization and needs an important difficult to be
or the region, students infrastructure and amount of money that implemented, but schools
may be discouraged relevant authorities may may not be available can reuse materials for
not want to interfere their needs