By Alejandra Garcia on September 1, 2022
University of Havana students. photo: Roberto Suarez
The pandemic has had devastating effects on every aspect of people’s lives, but one of the worst ones was that it forced tens of billions of children and young people around the world out of schools. They were a population at moderate risk of having severe symptoms of COVID-19, but they still got sick. Many died despite medical efforts or infected the most vulnerable at home.
There was no other alternative than implementing remote education at that time, and Cuba was no stranger to that life-saving decision. However, since the Caribbean island began to control the disease outbreak thanks to its vaccination campaign with local doses, it became safer to come back to schools. The return was gradual and planned; complying with all the necessary health protocols, but many university students spent two years of their school life receiving classes from home thanks to the use of new technologies.
Little by little, the fear of contagion is dissipating, which has led the Minister of Higher Education, José Ramón Saborido Loidi to announce this Wednesday a decision longed for the Cuban youth: the total return to the classrooms of more than 280,000 students, 32 percent of the young people between 18 and 24 years of age in the country.
“In these last two years, the pause was relative, because the universities never closed. Medical Sciences students supported in the search for possible COVID-19 cases in the communities, for example, so the break has been relative. But we are now ready for universities to reopen their doors,” Saborido explained during a televised presentation.
Young people must enjoy university life, their organizations, and their academic environment, and they must interact in the training processes. “We want to form professionals, but with an integral, committed, participatory learning, and we cannot achieve that with remote education,” the Minister said.
The class room courses will resume on September 5 and will conclude at the end of the year. Meanwhile, authorities are already thinking about the possible dates for the start of the 2023 course, which should occur on February 6, 2023.
Each university made the necessary adjustments according to its characteristics. “A group of them planned their final exams next October.”
It will be an intense course. The young people will have to catch up in subjects, in multidisciplinary content. “But everything can’t be just studying. Students also need to develop their social skills and create bonds of friendship with their old and new classmates. This will be a crucial process in the lives of our young people after two years of anguish and scarcity,” Saborido added.
“The restart of classes will bring joy to Cuban families. Amid our economic downturn, Cuba can be pleased to see how the universities recover their upbeat soul, with thousands of students attending classes eager to grow and to contribute to the development of the country from their field of knowledge,” the minister concluded.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English