“Decoding” the leading education system in Latin America

SGGPO 09/20/2023 14:03

Cuba not only tops the Latin American list in terms of investment in education but also holds the number 1 investment-to-GDP ratio according to the World Bank's ranking for the period 2009-2013. Today, despite many economic difficulties, Cuba is still considered a country with a world-class education system, with a level of development equal to that of advanced education systems such as Finland, Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada, etc.

“If you know, teach; if you don't know, learn”

Education has been a top concern of the Cuban government since the revolution succeeded in 1959, because before the revolution, more than half of Cuban children did not go to school and more than 1 million people were illiterate.

With the slogan "If you know, teach; if you don't know, learn", Cuba mobilized nearly 300,000 students and adults to volunteer in rural areas to teach the poor. In just three years, the literacy rate in Cuba reached 97%.

A classroom in Cuba. Source: OnCuba

On December 22, 1961, speaking to the masses at Revolution Square in Havana, President Fidel Castro declared that Cuba was a "land free from illiteracy". And this day is also chosen as the annual Teachers' Day in Cuba.

Experts say that Cuba’s educational success comes from the revolutionary government’s free education system. In Cuba, every child starts school completely free of charge at the age of 5. Universal education applies to all children from age 6 to the end of basic secondary school (usually 15). Education, including university education, is free for all Cuban citizens, regardless of wealth or social status.

After finishing 9th grade, students can choose to continue their studies or go to work. Cuban students are very studious. Students who graduate from preparatory schools can attend university for free. In many rural areas, students attend boarding schools. In these schools, students do agricultural work or other jobs in addition to studying.

Commenting on Cuba's education system, Executive Director of the American Association of School Principals (AASA) Dan Domenech affirmed: "Cuba is a country with a comprehensive education system for children!"

Medical training center for the world

A recent report by the World Bank (WB) asserts that “apart from Cuba, no school system in Latin America meets global standards.” Cuba is a place where “education has been a major priority since 1959 (the year of the successful Revolution), with an effective education system.”

The WB report also confirmed that no country in Latin America has a team of teachers that meet high quality standards according to world standards, except Cuba!

Nowadays, when mentioning Cuba, people around the world will immediately think of a country with the world's leading medical and health care system, in which the core "nucleus" is people.

Medical staff inject Covid-19 vaccine to people in La Habana, Cuba. Photo: VNA

Cuba has a network of 13 universities across the country that provide medical education through a unique preventive medicine model. Since 1999, Cuba’s Latin American Medical School of Havana has provided free education that includes full tuition, textbooks, accommodation, meals, and a stipend to 35,000 physicians from some 140 countries.

The country is committed to producing doctors who are ready to save lives and improve the health of many people at home and abroad. Many countries around the world have learned from this model of integrating theory and practice with a community-based approach, including developed countries such as the US and the EU.

Cuba has also stepped up medical training exchanges with other countries. About 2,500 students from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have enrolled in 43 specialized courses offered by the country’s Ministry of Public Health.

Cuba is also famous for its “medical exports”. Despite the pressure from the US embargo, Cuba’s medical sector has made many new strides. As the Covid-19 pandemic spread rapidly around the world, the Caribbean island nation undertook the mission of providing medical assistance to 19 countries to fight the disease, demonstrating its soft power through medical diplomacy.

According to the Times, the Cuban government's sending of health care professionals abroad generates about $11 billion a year in revenue - more than the tourism industry. There are currently about 50,000 Cuban doctors working in 67 countries across all continents.

Cuban Ambassador: "Wishing more and more Cuban doctors to come to Vietnam"

Professor Jusús de los Santos Reno Céspedes, a leading expert in oncology in Cuba, examines patients at the Oncology Department of the Vietnam - Cuba Dong Hoi Friendship Hospital. Photo: VNA

In early 2023, speaking to the press in Vietnam, Mr. Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cuba to Vietnam shared and hoped for cooperation in the medical field between Vietnam and Cuba in the coming time.

Regarding the cooperation in the health sector in general between Vietnam and Cuba, the ambassador said that there is a lot of potential for development in the coming time. We also hope that the achievements that Cuba has made in the health sector will be applied and bring benefits to the Vietnamese people.

“We hope that more and more Cuban doctors will come to work in Vietnamese hospitals, and that more Cuban medicine will reach Vietnam to treat people,” he said.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/giai-ma-nen-giao-duc-dung-dau-my-latinh-post706307.html