Teenagers’ Access to Cuban Universities

Teenagers' Access to Cuban Universities
Posted on September 30, 2013

Source * – Access to Cuban Universities of Qualified Workers and Trade
School Graduates, Mesa Crespo, D.L.

Although Cuba's reputation as an advanced third world country with
regards to education, annually thousand of students and workers under
the age of 18 don't have access to college level education due to social
and governmental obstacles.

The Youth Code, a law implemented in 1978 and approved by the National
Assembly of Popular Power, the supreme organization of the State power,
explains in one of its articles that newly graduated students from basic
education (up to 9th grade) can continue their education depending on
their academic performance and political and social attitude.

In reality, new directives and resolutions added to the code present
obstacles to the academic development of a portion of the students, who
due to their age are considered adolescents.

Since the 90's, social investigative centers run by the government have
conducted studies, where diverse realities among the Cuban youth were
identified: disintegration and poor social mobility in the most
vulnerable population sectors and the incipient lack of motivation to
continue college education.

This post belongs to a series that attempts to analyze the access to
higher education of the students attending polytechnics; especially
those classified as "qualified workers" who are a part of the Technical
and Professional Education (ETP). After this analysis we can
concentrate on the deep fundamental aspects related to the socioeconomic
and educational environment at this level of education.

The term "polytechnic student" applies to qualified workers, which
refers both to the studies for qualified workers — in some specialties
that relates learning a trade or skill — and to the category known as
mid-level, known generically in Cuba as mid-technicians. The
differentiations between the two level of students will be made when the
need arises in the coming articles in order to better understand the topic.

*
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos94/acceso-universidades-cubanas-obreros-calificados-y-tecnicos-medios/acceso-universidades-cubanas-obreros-calificados-y-tecnicos-medios.shtml

Translated by – LYD

2 September 2013

Source: "Teenagers' Access to Cuban Universities | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/teenagers-access-to-cuban-universities-2/