Education of our youth is important in any culture because it determines the future of any nation.

In Toledo Public Schools, children are encouraged to wear blue and white uniforms to school everyday. It is no different for the children in Cuba. Students who attend the primary grades wear red and white uniforms. Children who attend secondary school wear a yellow uniform. In Cuba education is one of the most important aspects of everyone’s life. Children go to school 6 days a week from 8:30 to about 4 p.m

After school many students go to computer classes at a computer technology center called the Computer Palace (Palacio de Computadora). Students where uniforms all through primary to secondary school.

Education and the seeking out of information doesn’t just happen in a school setting. As we all know, learning happens through the cultural practices that we engage in. Music, drama, dance, poetry, art-àbeing creative is an important part of life. The students playing violin are performing at the opening of the INFO 2000 conference. The second picture is of young women performing for their CDR. Their performance included song as well as dance.
 

Sometimes students in Cuba decide that going to school is not something they want to continue. Like the United States, some students decide to drop out. Unlike the United States, Cuba decided to create a new school specifically for these students in order keep them involved in finding a solution to the social issues in the country like teen pregnancy, school drop outs, HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. These students attend the School for Social Workers in Havana. Here students learn how to organize and find solutions to everyday problems.

4. (2nd picture of School of Social Workers)

A specific problem that students worked on was an illness called Dengue. This illness is spread by mosquitoes and causes severe flue like symptoms that could lead to death. Students worked long hours to educate people about the disease as well as getting rid of disease spreading mosquitoes.

Students at the School of Social Workers also work in the agricultural area in the many gardens that are found in Havana. The food is used for the schools. Sometimes the food is also provided to the hotels and restaurants and is also sold to individuals.

Education in Cuba is free. This means college, too. The University of Havana is located near the center of the city of Havana. Here, people from Cuba as well as students from international locations like the United States and Mexico come to study biology, philosophy, technology, agriculture, medicine and other disciplines under renowned professors.