The Revolution and its Functional Illiterates

The Revolution and its Functional Illiterates / Diario de Cuba, Jorge
Olivera Castillo
Posted on April 24, 2015

Diario de Cuba, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Havana, 23 April 2015 —
According to a close friend, no fewer than half of the graduates of
Cuban universities during the last 50 years, have been graduated in vain."

Such an assertion might be considered distorted and extremist, but the
reality outweighs the data that continue to have no place in the
official press nor in the other spaces controlled by the State-Party.

From the start, what counted was massiveness. The only insurmountable
barrier to higher education is ideological divergences. The slogan about
the university being "only for revolutionaries" is kept as current as on
the first day it was proclaimed from the platforms and acclaimed by the
multitudes.

Intelligence and suitability became secondary factors to be considered
during the university admissions process.

If we add to such follies the regression in teaching methodologies and
the limitations in using new technologies, conclusions are easily
reached that have nothing in common with the statistics that overstate
successes and promote perspectives that are realized, only and
exclusively, in the reports by the officials.

In this scenario it is normal for the diploma which documents a
university graduation to often be a false trail.

At times, all it takes is a simple conversation to confirm ignorance
about key topics in national history and other subjects that taught in
junior high and high school.

There are cases in which abilities are limited to a subject studied and
do not signify an excellent education.

The future consolidation of capitalism in Cuba is a prospect that
generates little enthusiasm for many who display with ill-concealed
pride their university degree.

In such a context it will be impossible to cover up the many gaps in
knowledge.

What will dictate standards is competitiveness – not participation in
acts of revolutionary reaffirmation and other contrivances that
exemplify the culture of social parasitism and the institutionalization
of fraud as a norm of citizenship in the struggle for survival.

It is a shame to have invested so many material and human resources for
such poor results.

The collapse of the paradigms of Caribbean-style socialism is a
phenomenon undergoing its final phase.

Among the ruins that exceed their figurative framework to showcase their
leading role across the country are those of the Ministry of Education.

In this act of the tragedy, what stands out is the army of functional
illiterates coming out of the classrooms of the Revolution.

One of the legacies of a project that failed and whose founders refuse
to accept the verdict of history.

Translated by: Alicia Barraqué Ellison

Source: The Revolution and its Functional Illiterates / Diario de Cuba,
Jorge Olivera Castillo | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/the-revolution-and-its-functional-illiterates-diario-de-cuba-jorge-olivera-castillo/