Cuba to Give Schools More Autonomy

Cuba to Give Schools More Autonomy

HAVANA – The Cuban Education Ministry announced that during the next
school year it will try out a new model giving more autonomy to the
schools, according to which they will be able to organize their own
schedules and activities to a greater degree.

Education Minister Ena Elsa Velazquez said that the decision reviewed by
hundreds of teachers, students and officials and it will allow
principals to organize the internal activities of their schools in
accord with their particular circumstances and their environment.

Among the changes will be more free hours for teachers to prepare for
their classes and more vocational training programs for students.

In addition, greater importance will be placed on having the school
councils discuss students' problems with their families.

But "flexibility does not mean that each school will do what it wants.
The study plan must be respected and carried out with more rigor, and
professors must ... prepare themselves better to that no class is left
out," Velazquez said.

The new adjustments seek to improve the island's educational system,
which has among its goals to impart the correct information about
values, fulfill the prevailing school regulations and eliminate academic
fraud.

Over the long term, the ministry is developing a broader process that
includes changes in curricula and textbooks.

The problems in the educational sector, which is one of the flagship
elements of the Cuban Revolution, in recent years have become the focus
of controversy on the island, and last week the meeting of National
Assembly committees devoted a significant amount of discussion time to
the matter.

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune - Cuba to Give Schools More
Autonomy -
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14510&ArticleId=2343175