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Cuban Education

Cuba begins new school year with new challenges and endeavors

Cuba begins new school year with new challenges and endeavors
The new school term begins in Cuba on Monday, at a particularly complex time due to the difficult economic situation the island is going through.

Author: Radio Habana Cuba | internet@granma.cu

september 4, 2023 10:09:00



Photo: Juvenal Balán
Havana, September 4 (RHC)– The new school term begins in Cuba on Monday, at a particularly complex time due to the difficult economic situation the island is going through. According to educational authorities, this situation is caused by the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States, and in the midst of the confrontation with the strategies of ideological subversion against the Revolution.

According to the Ministry of Education, the country does not renounce, however, to the purpose of providing an educational teaching process with superior quality, and is committed to the implementation of the changes foreseen in the III Educational Improvement.

In this context, this course must be characterized by a permanent evaluation of the priorities established to make it sustainable throughout the year, said recently the head of the sector, Naima Trujillo.

She also highlighted the importance of education as a pillar for the advancement of the nation, the formation of an integral, humanistic general culture, and a model of a person distinguished by knowledge and values, and not by the possession of goods.

Trujillo affirmed that teacher coverage will be guaranteed with well-defined territorial strategies that include the incorporation of students in the last year of the pedagogical universities, and other initiatives.

He pointed out that the main challenges in this regard are associated with ensuring that teachers have a permanent evaluation and that all classrooms maintain the necessary attention.

Regarding the guarantee of literature and teaching material for the new school year, he informed that it starts with an adjusted standard of notebooks and it has not been possible to produce all the titles of notebooks used so far in the educational system.

In view of this situation, those texts that methodologically involve more in the development of skills were selected, he said, and gave an example in the case of first grade with the writing notebook, which is much more demanding for the student than the mathematics one.

This 2023-2024 educational course will also have the particularity that its calendar will include two calls for entrance exams to Higher Education.

Cuba /Africa

Cuba and Angola united by unbreakable ties of blood, friendship and brotherhood

Cuba and Angola united by unbreakable ties of blood, friendship and brotherhood
First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez considered the talks held at Angola’s Presidential Palace with his counterpart João Gonçalves Lourenço as “very fruitful”.

Author: Yaima Puig Meneses | informacion@granmai.cu

Author: René Tamayo León | internet@granma.cu

august 30, 2023 11:08:36


Angola’s President invited to “think about practical mechanisms which promote exchange between our countries at all levels”.

Photo: Estudios Revolución
Luanda, Angola – First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez considered the talks held at Angola’s Presidential Palace with his counterpart João Gonçalves Lourenço as “very fruitful”.

The dialogue ratified the willingness of both countries to keep strengthening and expanding their ties as Díaz-Canel expressed in a session of Angola’s Ministers Council.

Attesting these historic bonds of brotherhood built for more than 40 years the President conveyed warm greetings to the people of Angola on behalf of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.

He stressed that Cuba and Angola are united by unbreakable ties of blood, friendship and brotherhood, born of the sad and embarrassing period of slavery -since an important part of our ancestors come from this region – these went on later with the support of our internationalist forces to FAPLA with the aim of consolidating independence and preserving Angola’s national sovereignty.

“Our support to Angola is inspired and held up on those solid bases, and we have maintained it for decades, with a broad civil cooperation which modestly, prides itself of having furthered also Angola’s socioeconomic development in a period of peace”, he recalled.

“For us, this was a long awaited and eagerly anticipated visit, which had to be postponed because of the pandemic in 2020. It takes place in the midst of important commemorations for the Angolan people, such as a new anniversary of the proclamation of independence and the historic battle of Kangamba, a military landmark in the country’s war of liberation. He said.



Photo: Estudios Revolución
This visit also pays homage to the FAPLA’s combatants and the Army Revolutionary Forces which were involved in the struggle for the independence of Angola, those who died or were wounded in the battlefields.

The Cuban President talked about the singular relationship between Dr Agostinho Neto and Fidel, since these are the very foundations of the close friendship that today guide the unbreakable relations of friendship, solidarity and brotherhood existing between our peoples and between our countries.

It is the will of both sides, he assured, to continue “widening and consolidating our relations in areas of mutual interest”. He considered the new generations of leaders in the two countries, that following the natural processes of history have taken on the top positions in the Party and Government, “also representing a continuity of the legacy of our historic leaders who were the builders of the friendship we have today.”

Díaz-Canel showed his confidence that “we can jointly profit effectively and in the best way from the existing potential to increase the level of the economic, commercial and financial relations in the areas of cooperation, investment and foreign trade, promoting them to the level of the excellent and historic political relations that we have.”

Angola is the African country where we have the most varied cooperation, and there are potentials, to expand them, in other areas like renewable energy sources and biotechnology.

He thanked the support received in the fight against the blockade imposed by the United States, which has come not only from Angola, but also from the African Union and other multilateral forums, in which the African countries have demanded the end of these unjust measures of persecution and harassment which also affect third parties, given its extraterritorial component.

“I want to reaffirm before you Cuba’s unwavering will to continue consolidating a respectful and friendful relationship with the people and government of Angola, whose solidarity has been also beneficial for us in hard moments, especially in the last few years.”

“My new visit to Luanda, first as a Head of State, gives continuity to the systematic exchange of high-level visits which take place between the two countries, and contribute to consolidate our bilateral ties, which date back to 1975, and are characterized by the legacy of friendship between our historic leaders, Dr Agostinho Neto and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.”

Both presidents ratified the willingness and interests to “increase the economic, commercial and of investment relations, despite the great geographic distance, considering the business relations of great value, which should keep developing, including the ties between Mariel Special Development Zone and the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone”, he said.

CUBA, A BROTHER COUNTRY

“Angola greatly appraises the relations with Cuba, a brother country with which we expect to deepen and consolidate our ties of friendship and economic cooperation. We believe that this visit to Angola is an important step for the materialization of this goal”. This was expressed by President João Gonçalves Lourenço, who recalled how in the hardest moments of Angola’s history, Cuba took in the training of youth, many today holding great responsibilities of the country.

He highlighted the role performed by the Cuban Health Professionals, who during a considerable period guaranteed the work of our hospitals at all the levels of care, and in the whole national territory, while ours were trained in Angola, in Cuba, and in European countries.

“We are satisfied with this great result of our bilateral cooperation”, Lourenço stressed, and affirmed that the ties should live on, “granting them a new paradigm, and focusing on the specialized high-level exchange in critical areas of knowledge, for which we count once more with your selfless cooperation and solidarity.”

“It is indispensable to think in practical mechanisms which enable the exchange between our countries at all levels, free trade, complementarity in the use of available resources, the transfer of technical and scientific knowledge, and the priority in terms of implementation of industrialization projects in our countries, with basis on the sustainable use of raw material and of other resources we have in store.”

“Angola defends the end of the economic blockade your country has been subjected to decades ago”, he said.

SIGNATURE OF BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

The two leaders witnessed the signature of three bilateral agreements which contribute to the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries.

Memorandum of Understanding between the Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) of the Republic of Cuba and the Health Technology and Medicine Regulating Agency (ARMED) of the Republic of Angola, to develop a cooperation relation in the field of pharmaceutical regulation and rules.

Memorandum of Understanding to promote investment between the Office of Mariel Special Development Zone, of the Republic of Cuba, and the Development Society of the Luanda-Bengo E.P Special Economic Zone of the Republic of Angola, with the aim of establishing a beneficial exchange, in both operating elements and cooperation for the establishment of investment.

In statements to the press Lourenço said that “to talk about the relations between our two countries is to talk about relations of brotherhood between two peoples that love each other a lot, and that in difficult moments, in which any of them can be the other come to help. Cuba has an important place in our countries’ life.”

The level of cooperation between Cuba and Angola, he admitted, is below what our people demand. “Hence we are willing to work towards placing the level of economic cooperation, at the level of the friendly relations between our two peoples.”

He assured that he will respond to the invitation of President Díaz-Canel to repay an official visit to Cuba, and to take part in the upcoming summit G77 plus China to be held in Havana.

Díaz-Canel considered that the talks held “are a landmark in our relations, and also at present, for all we can do jointly. We are willing to maintain, continue and expand cooperation, collaboration, friendship and solidarity with the Republic of Angola.”

Cuba /Africa, President Miguel M. Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

Cuban president arrives in Mozambique on official visit

Cuban president arrives in Mozambique on official visit
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived today in Mozambique to strengthen the historic ties of friendship and cooperation that unite the two nations.

Author: Radio Habana Cuba | internet@granma.cu

august 25, 2023 09:08:44



Photo : Alejandro Azcuy
Maputo, August 25 (Prensa Latina)– Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived today in Mozambique to strengthen the historic ties of friendship and cooperation that unite the two nations.
The Cuban president traveled to Maputo from South Africa, where he participated in the BRICS Summit on behalf of the Group of 77 plus China and held meetings with solidarity groups.
During his stay in this African nation, the head of state will meet with Mozambican President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, with collaborators from the Caribbean nation who work there, representatives of solidarity movements and Cuban residents.
The visit takes place on the eve of the 48th anniversary of the relations between Cuba and Mozambique, signed on August 27, 1975, which confers a very special character to this meeting.
The history of cooperation between the two countries is marked by the friendship between the first Mozambican president and independence fighter, Samora Machel, and the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, who visited the city of Beira in March 1977.
From those early moments to the present, the ties between the two nations have been close.
Many Mozambicans have benefited from their cooperation, both through the contribution of Cuban cooperants in different spheres of economic and social development, as well as through the training of thousands of young people from this country in the Caribbean.

President Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel addresses BRICS Summit in South Africa

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel addresses BRICS Summit in South Africa

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, in his capacity as rotating president of the G77+China, expressed support for the path to inclusive multilateralism, embodied in the final declaration of the 15th BRICS Summit.    Diaz-Canel addressed the Summit on its final day in South Africa.

Author: Radio Habana Cuba | internet@granma.cu

august 24, 2023 10:08:53

Johannesburg, August 24 (Prensa Latina)– Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, in his capacity as rotating president of the G77+China, expressed support for the path to inclusive multilateralism, embodied in the final declaration of the 15th BRICS Summit.    Diaz-Canel addressed the Summit on its final day in South Africa.
“It is a great honor and a privilege to participate in a summit of the BRICS group” (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), an integration mechanism that opens hopes for the strengthening of multilateralism, which today is as urgent as it is essential for the very destiny of Humanity.
“I attend this dialogue”, he said, “with the enormous responsibility that it represents for Cuba to chair the Group of 77 and China, the broadest and most diverse grouping of developing nations.”  We are 134 countries, he recalled, two thirds of the members of the UN, where almost 80 percent of the planet’s population lives, facing the colossal challenges of an increasingly unequal world, where exclusion and poverty have multiplied after two years of pandemic, followed by dramatic conflicts.
The G77+China and the BRICS, said Díaz-Canel, together have the responsibility and the possibility to act for a change in the current unjust world order.
‘It is not an option; it is the only alternative,” he stressed.
Given the growing authority of the BRICS group on the international scene, he said, the G77+China does not hesitate to welcome its enlargement, which will contribute to strengthen its world relevance and global representativeness.
In his remarks, the Cuban president recalled how the real transformation of the current international financial architecture, which he described as deeply unjust, anachronistic and dysfunctional, is a historical demand of both the G77+China and BRICS.
In this regard, he stressed, the New Development Bank created by BRICS can and should become an alternative to the current financial institutions, which have applied for almost a century, draconian recipes to profit from the reserves of the South and reproduce their schemes of subjugation and domination.
Surely, he said, the extension of this mechanism (of broad-based foreign currency reserves, which can guarantee certainty and stability to the South) to other countries, would contribute to alleviate the imbalances of the current monetary system.
The establishment of mutual lines of credit in local currencies by the banks of the BRICS nations and the possibility of creating a single currency for their operations, he added, are also initiatives that could be applied in relations with other developing countries.
This could reduce the abusive monopoly of the U.S. currency, which reinforces and guarantees a hegemony harmful to the rest of the world, Díaz-Canel stressed.
On climate change, he continued, we emphasize the strategic value of effective coordination between the BRICS and the G77+China, to safeguard the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in the implementation of the Framework Convention and the Paris Agreement.
On the other hand, scientific-technical development, he recalled, is today monopolized by a club of countries that monopolize most of the patents, technologies, research centers, and promote the drain of talent from our countries.
The G77+China and the Brics should and can, he said, do more to change that situation and in that spirit.
On this issue, he said, Cuba has called for a Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China on science, technology and innovation as a premise for development, to be held next September in Havana.
“We are expecting to see you there,” he announced to those present, leaders of 65 nations.
“We firmly believe in the power of unity in diversity and that it is time to act together in defense of historic grievances that, because they have not been addressed in time, have multiplied the problems facing our nations today.  To move towards a more just and sustainable future, the time for collective action is not tomorrow.  It is now.”