The cuban education system

September 27, 1999

1. 
   
   
2. 
   II. Elements of a Successful System
   

Annexes

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  quality basic education and universal access to primary and secondary school
  
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  comprehensive early childhood education and student health programs (established as part of the commitment to basic education);
  
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  complementary educational programs for those outside school--literacy, adult and non-formal education (again as part of the basic education commitment);
  
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  mechanisms to foster community participation in management of schools;
  
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  great attention to teachers (extensive pre- and in-service training, high status and morale, incentives, transparent system of accountability, strategies for developing a culture of professionalism, rewards for innovation);
  
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  low-cost instructional materials of high quality;
  
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  teacher and student initiative in adapting the national curriculum and developing instructional materials locally;
  
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  carefully structured competition that enhances the system rather than the individual;
  
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  explicit strategies to reach rural students and students with special needs;
  
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  strategies to link school and work; and
  
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  an emphasis on education for social cohesion.
  

The importance of these factors is affirmed by a growing body of school quality and effectiveness research carried out in other parts of the world, mostly subsequent to or at least independently of their adoption in Cuba. Thus, Cuba’s experience is instructive in several ways. It provides evidence of the importance of certain critical inputs, around which research consensus is growing. Though unlikely to be replicated in full, many of these inputs can be adopted—clear standards of accountability, provision of textbooks, attention to the professional development of teachers, etc.. Most importantly, perhaps, the Cuban case demonstrates that high quality education is not simply a function of national income but of how that income is mobilized. A highly-mobilized people can realize high quality education by ensuring the necessary inputs, paying attention to equity, setting and holding staff to high professional standards, and caring for the social roles of key stakeholders—teachers, community members, children.