OEA/Ser.L/V/II.61
Doc. 29 rev. 1
4 October 1983
Original:  Spanish

THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA
SEVENTH REPORT

CHAPTER XIV

THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

A.   GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

          1.          The American Declaration establishes:

Article XII.  Every person has the right to an education, which should be based on the principles of liberty, morality and human solidarity.

Likewise every person has the right to an education that will prepare him to attain a decent life, to raise his standard of living, and to be a useful member of society.

The right to an education includes the right to equality of opportunity in every case, in accordance with natural talents, merit and the desire to utilize the resources that the state or the community is in a position to provide.

Every person has the right to receive free, at least a primary education.

          2.          Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims the universal right to education in the following terms;

1. Everyone has the right to education.  Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.  Elementary education shall be compulsory.  Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality ;and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.  It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

          3.          The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, although it repeats some of the above cited principles, goes beyond them in sketching the specific characteristics of the right to education.  Article 13 of the Covenant reads as follows:

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education.  They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.  They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

2. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the full realization of this right:  (a) Primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all; (b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; (c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; (d)  Fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those persons who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education; (e)  The development of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate fellowship system shall be established, and the  material conditions of teaching staff shall be continuously improved.

3. The States parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as my be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

          4.          The American Declaration and the Universal Declaration consider three different aspects of education:  access, content, and preference.  For its part, the international Covenant upholds similar concepts, although it adds the element of promotion of education for adults and fellowships.  The Covenant also recognizes the right of parents to promote the moral development of their children, and it provides that for exercise of educational preference to be possible, there should be a possibility of creating alternative schools, independent from those created by public authorities.

B.   LEGAL FRAMEWORK

          5.          With respect to the right to education, the Constitution of Cuba establishes the following:

Article 38.  The state directs, foments and promotes education, culture and science in all their aspects.

Its educational and cultural policy is based on the following principles:

a) The state bases its educational and cultural policy on the scientific world view, disclosed and developed by Marxism-Leninism;

b) education is a function of the state.  Consequently, educational institutions are state-owned.  The fulfillment of the educational function constitutes a task in which all society participates and is based on the conclusions and contributions made by science and on the closest relationship between study and life, work and production;

c) the state promotes the communist education of the new generations and the training of children, young people and adults for social life.  In order to make this principle a reality, general education and specialized scientific, technical or artistic education are combined with work, development research, physical education, sports, participation in political and social activities and military training;

d) education is provided free of charge.  The state maintains a broad scholarship system for students and provides the workers with multiple opportunities to study with a view to the universalization of education.  The law regulates the integration and structure of the national system of education and the extent of compulsory education and defines the minimum level of general education that every citizen must acquire;

e) artistic creativity is free as long as its content is not contrary to the Revolution.  Forms of expression in art are free;

f) in order to raise the level of cultural of the people, the state foments and develops artistic education, the vocation for creation and the cultivation and appreciation of art;

g) creation and investigation in science are free.  The state encourages and facilitates investigation and gives priority to that which is aimed at solving the problems related to the interests of society and the well-being of the people;

h) the state encourages the workers to engage in scientific work and to contribute to the development of science;

i) the state directs, foments and develops all forms of physical education and sports as a means of education and of contribution to the integral development of all citizens;

j) the state sees to the conservation of the nation’s cultural heritage and artistic and historic wealth.  The state protects national monuments and places known for their natural beauty or their artistic or historic value;

k) the state promotes the participation of the citizens, through the country’s social and mass organizations, in the development of its educational and cultural policy.

Article 39.  The education of children and young people in the spirit of communism is the duty of all society.

The state and society give special protection to children and young people.

Article 50.  Everyone has the right to an education.  This right is guaranteed by the free and widespread system of schools, boarding schools and scholarships of all kinds and at all levels of education, and because of the fact that all educational material is provided free of charge, which gives all children and young people, regardless of their family’s economic position, the opportunity to study according to their ability, social demands and the needs of socioeconomic development.

Adults are also guaranteed this right, in the same conditions free of charge with the specific facilities prescribed by law, through the adult education program, technical and professional education, training courses in state agencies and enterprises and the advanced courses for workers.

Article 51.  Everyone has the right to physical education, sport and recreation.

Enjoyment of this right is guaranteed by including the teaching and practice of physical education and sports in the curricula of the national educational system and by the broad nature of the instruction and means placed at the service of the people, which facilitates the practice of sports and recreation on a mass basis.

C.   PRACTICE

          6.          any effort to provide a people with formal education should begin by addressing the problem of literacy, since the population should have, in the first place, the concrete possibility of learning to read and write.  The level of literacy is an index of a people’s potential for future educational development.  In 1953, the illiteracy rate in Cuba was 23.6% for the population over 10 years of age.  There were 1,032,849 people who were unable to read or write; in other words, they were barred from formal education.

          7.          Illiteracy was not evenly distributed, as there were marked differences among the provinces.  For example, the province of Havana where most of the political and economic resources of the country were concentrated had an illiteracy rate of 9.2%, but the Province of Oriente, a critical sugar-producing region with a population largely composed of poor blacks, had an illiteracy rate of 35.3%.  All of the other provinces had an illiteracy rate of at least twice that of the capital.[1]

          8.          The differences in reference appeared not only among provinces, but also as a result of social class and a person’s place of residence.  The rural areas, with a large number of peasants and illegal land tenants, and a high rate of unemployment, had an illiteracy rate much higher than that of the cities.  Illiteracy in rural areas was almost twice the national average, 41.7%, whereas the recorded rate in urban areas was only 11.6%.

          9.          Most children did not attend school.  In 1953 “children between the ages of 6 and 9 represented 558,000 inhabitants of which 385,000, i.e., 84%, were illiterate.  The percentage of illiterates in the urban population from age 6-14 fluctuated from 44.5% in Havana to 81.2% in the Province of Oriente”[2]  However, in rural areas it fluctuated between 64.1% in Pinar del Río and 89.5% in Oriente, while in the remaining provinces the rates were between these two figures.

          10.          At the beginning of the current political process, educational infrastructure (buildings, classrooms, materials, etc.) was very poor.  In a study carried out by the University de Las Villas in 1959, for example, it was shown that “96.2% of all schools in the province had only one classroom, and that classroom was used simultaneously by students who ranged from first to sixth grade and who received instruction from the same teacher.  The average number of students per classroom was 38, but with only 22 desks.  Eighty percent had no bathrooms and only 3% of them had indoor running water.  The average number of books per student was one, although approximately 15 different courses were taught”.[3]

          11.          Even though primary education in the 1950s was compulsory and free of charge under the law, it was not accessible to a considerable segment of the population due to the incidence of several cultural and socio-economic factors.  Secondary, technical, vocational and university education was yet more limited.

          12.          Access to good formal education also depended to a large extent on the ability to pay for it.  Education for adults was practically nonexistent, since the State did not give it priority and scholarships were very rare.  Individuals and institutions had the freedom to establish educational institutions in accordance with their own expectations and views.

          13.          Beginning in 1959, the State authorities committed significant resources to change the educational system, which included expanding its benefits to larger sectors of the population.  In the spring of 1961, all private schools ere nationalized and a uniform and national education system was instituted.  Education was provided free of charge at all levels and educational opportunities were made “accessible to all Cuban citizens who were able and wished to study, without regard to sex, race or socio-economic status”.[4]

1.   Literacy

          14.          Once the juridical and organizational framework was established, measures were adopted to eliminate illiteracy.  The first steps were taken in 1959-1960, but the largest and most systematic campaign at the national level was undertaken in 1961.  The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) has noted that 100,000 students, 13,000 workers, 120,000 citizens and 34,800 teachers participated.  9The last group was that which taught reading and writing.  ECLA has indicated that illiteracy in the population over ten years of age fell from 23.8% to less than 3.9%.[5] In other words, of a  total of 929,207 identified illiterates, 707,212 were taught to read and write; 221,995 did not equate these skills.[6]

          15.          By 1962 the number of illiterates in the provinces had been considerably reduced in comparison to 1953.  The reduction occurred as follows:  Pinar del Río from 30.8% to 5.1%; Havana from 9.2% to 1.4%; Matanzas from 19.2% to 3.2% Las Villas from 24.8% to 3.9%; Camagüey from 27.3% to 5.5%, and Oriente from 35.3% to 5.2%.

          16.          It has been estimated that in the decade of the 1970s over 93% of the Cuban population was literate.[7]  It is not possible, however, to define the present situation in terms of functional illiteracy.

2.   Primary Education for Adults

          17.          As part of its overall policy, Cuban authorities instituted a program of continuing education in order to improve the educational level of those who had recently become literate.  One author has written:

When the Literacy Campaign ended, a program to elevate the educational level of workers and farmers began, and primary and secondary schooling was offered in farms, factories, offices, and night schools.  First, courses in self-improvement, by which a third-grade education could be obtained, were made available to more than 500,000 adults.  Then, follow-up courses enabling students to get through the sixth grade were opened.  Those graduating could later enroll in the Worker-Farmer Education programs to complete secondary education.  With the preparation they could continue their education by going into vocational school or the university.[8]

          18.          It should be pointed out in this regard that the necessary adjustments were made in working hours to facilitate education for adults with significant success.

          19.          Registration rose 170% in the 1958-1960 period, and 1053% in 1960-1964 period, becoming constant thereafter.  Numerous crash programs have been carried out to educate adults, which have sometimes failed.  It has been considered  that “the high drop-out rate for 1964-65 suggests that crash efforts to educate adults, such as the one made in that year, are not always successful”.[9]  It has also been indicated that “the tapering off of the enrollment in the early 1970s can be taken as an indication of the long-term success of the program in ensuring a basic level of literacy in the Cuban society”.[10]

          20.          In fact, a large number of adults, particularly workers and peasants, have become literate.  A study carried out in 1960 on workers affiliated with union reveals that 53% of the workers sampled had no more than two years of schooling and only 19% had gone beyond sixth grade.[11]  In 1973, when another census was taken of the working class, approximately 50% of the sample had not concluded sixth grade,[12] but from 1973 to 1982 notable progress was made.  At the beginning of 1980, the Cuban Confederation of Workers declared that 1,258,528 workers had completed their primary education in the period from 1959 to 1980.[13]

          21.          Perhaps as important as the number of adults with a sixth-grade education is the change that has taken place in the kind of education for adults.  The program for workers-peasants was aimed at basic education.  In 1964-1965, 97.7% of all adult students were registered in this kind of program, but this number progressively fell to 87.5% (1969-1970) and to a low of 55.4% (1977-1978).  Secondary, technical, language and higher education is attractive ever more students; the minimal level of education, which is now sixth grade, has opened this option to them.

3.   Primary, Secondary and Technical Education

          22.          The registration rate at the primary level has advanced notably since 1959.  There is a general consensus among those who study the Cuban situation on the marked progress that has taken place in this respect.  For example, ECLA has reported that “expansion of primary education has occurred very rapidly, surpassing population growth until 1973 and tending to grow at the same rate after 1976”.[14]

          23.          Primary education covers grades 1 to 6; it is compulsory and free of charge.  In 1958, 49% of school-age children (5 to 12 years of age) did not attend school.  In 1959 “51% of first-school-year-age children attended school”, and since then it has continued to rise.[15]  By 1971-1972 96% of primary school-age children attended school, a figure which rose further in the following year, when it reached 98.5% of all school-age children.  Since then, attendance has remained constant at that level, and it can therefore be said that primary education in Cuba at present is practically universal.[16]

          24.          The primary schools provide general instruction that includes rudimentary concepts of Marxism, with emphasis on heroes and moral values, as well as patriotism.  In 1965 the primary schools introduced the concept of “polytechnic course” that was adopted from the socialist countries.  This kind of course seeks to familiarize children with manual labor performed with machines and tools.

          25.          Over a period of twenty years (1960-1980), the number of students who completed six years of education reached 2,755,706 (without counting those who completed the adult education program).  Primary education has become the rule rather than the exception.[17]

          26.          It should also be pointed out that “upon completion of primary school, students are urged to continue their education up to the age of 17 as a ‘moral obligation’”.[18]  Educational policy in the 1950s was quite different from this situation; in fact, in 1960, one year after the revolution came to power, only 43% of the school population that could attend secondary schools (from age 12 to 17), did so.  Twenty years later, school attendance at that age level had reached 83.4%.[19]  Education to the ninth grade is now compulsory for children.

          27.          The secondary school system is complex.  There are three different avenues:  (1) the basic schools of the secondary level (equivalent to grades 7 to 10); (2) the technical schools at the secondary level (a three-year program).  (3) the schools to train teachers for the primary level (five-year program).  Each of these levels has expanded through the years, but the most notable increases took place in the 1970s, when the students who had completed their primary education began to enter the secondary system.[20]

          28.          From 1960 to 1980, university preparatory schools produced 154,352 graduates (80.8% of them graduated after 1971).  For the same period, the basic secondary educational system had 574,800 graduates.  In addition, over one million people have received secondary education since 1959.[21]

          29.          The distribution of resources and students at the secondary level has changed considerably.  The Economic Commission for Latin America has observed that in 1960, rural areas represented only 2% of total enrollment; even in 1967 they represented 2.7% of all secondary school students.  As more schools were built in rural areas throughout the decade of the 1970s, enrollment rose.  In 1978, rural areas produced 37.7% of all students and a similar proportion graduated.  In other words, city inhabitants were over-represented in secondary education but to a considerably lesser degree than twenty years earlier.

          30.          After completing basic secondary education, students have the option of pre-university studies or technical training.  Schools are distributed throughout the country, education at this level is much more specialized, and the courses require great dedication.  For admission to these schools, candidates must have high grades.  These two kinds of schools have trained students on a massive scale only in the decade of the 1970s.  From 1961 to 1980 the technical schools had 258,100 graduates.  However, only 58,440 students graduated in 1982.

          31.          Completion of technical training allows the individual to become a skilled worker or a technician at the intermediate level.  Those who graduate may continue their studies at a technological institute for four years.

4.   Higher Education

          32.          Before the beginning of the current political process, access to higher education had been limited since only a small sector of the population reached this level of the educational pyramid.  In the early years of the present regime, enrollment declined considerably; it was only after 1964 that it surpassed the level prior to 1959.  In the second half of the 1960s, growth was stable, reaching approximately 7.1% annually.  However, in the following decade a different phenomenon occurred:  enrollment rose beginning in the early years of the 1970s (as was the case with all except the primary level).  In 1980, more students graduated at the university level in Cuba than the total number of students who graduated at all levels in the 1957-1958 academic year.  From 1970 to 1980 the graduation level rose 641%.[22]

33.          The universities are closely linked to the production process; as a result, students are expected to perform practical work in a center related to their area of specialty or major course of study.  In 1953 only 5.5%  people of the age group of 20 to 24 years of age attended a university: 27 years later, the figure was 23.8%.[23]  There are no data on the number of students from rural areas who attended or graduated from a university.  The graduation rate, however, has improved notably.  In 1970, only one of every four students who enrolled in a university graduated; ten years later, the average had risen to one of every two students.[24]

5.   Growth of Resources in Education

          34.          Expansion of the educational sector has made the system accessible to 3.5 million people, i.e., at present one of every 2.83 Cubans is a student.  To be able to meet such strong demand it was necessary to invest large sums in school construction, training of teachers and creation of adequate infrastructure.  In 1958, Cuba had 7,567 primary schools, 171 secondary schools, and 3 public universities.  In 1978, there were 13, 115 primary schools, 1,038 secondary schools and 39 higher education centers (figures corresponding to 1982).

          35.          One of the most serious difficulties that Cuban authorities have had to overcome has been the training of a competent corps of teachers.  According to one author:

One of the problems faced by the revolution has been the acute scarcity of teachers.  This has resulted from two factors:  on the one hand, the unprecedented increase in the student population absorbed the available number of primary and secondary school teachers, and on the other, the exodus of the professional class, particularly after 1960, which drained the educational resources of the country.  Facing this problem, the authorities of the revolution were forced to put emergency measures into practice.  Students with a secondary school education were rapidly trained (in a few weeks), to teach in primary schools in rural areas¼ At the same time, teachers without degrees, called popular teachers, who came principally from those who participated in the literacy campaign of 1961 and who did not have a sixth grade education, completed crash course for teaching at the primary level in primary schools.  The popular teachers were given accelerated training, every Saturday and in a course of 45 days during vacation, for a period of four years, after which they were considered fully certified teachers.  In 1969, nearly 60% of all teachers in primary schools came from this group.  At the secondary level, teaching personnel has been made up of advanced students, university students and certified teachers.  In 1967, there were 36,000 advanced students employed at this level.[25]

          36.          These emergency measures made it possible to meet quantitative demand, but they did not solve the problems of quality in teaching.  In 1973, only 36% of primary-level teachers had been formally trained, but thanks to a major effort aimed at solving this problem, by 1971 most teachers had been certified with a ninth grade education at a minimum, and had also been given adequate training.  In 1980, for the first time, all primary teachers held degrees, but there are no official figures on the situation at other levels of the system.  For the school year 1978-1979, the number of primary level teachers in comparison with the year 1958 had grown 3.5 times, while secondary school and university teachers had multiplied 13.6 and 9.6 times, respectively.[26]

          37.          Although education is free of charge, it is difficult for some to study because they must work to support their families or because the family situation is such that young people cannot be sent far away due to a lack of resources.  The Cuban State has dealt with this problem by instituting a broad system of scholarships.  Since 1962, scholarships include housing, food, clothes, shoes, medical and dental care, recreation, a monthly allowance, transportation and expenses for books.  However, several requirements must be met to receive a scholarship:  “Everyone who receives a scholarship must live in a boarding school, attend classes daily, observe school discipline, and maintain a high academic average.  In addition, scholarship recipients may only leave boarding school on Sundays, must be faithful to the Revolution and study at least 20 hours per week.”[27]

          38.          Since 1967, workers have been awarded subsidies if they need them and if they meet the necessary university requirements for admission, and these subsidies are non-reimbursable.  In 1980, over half a million students were on scholarship.

          39.          Scholarships are distributed according to educational level.  In 1978, 44.3% of scholarships were awarded to students at the secondary level, 17.6% to students in the technical institutes, 12.6% to pre-university students, 7.1% to university students and the remainder was divided among students in special programs and in primary schools.  16.2% of all students were on scholarship in that year.[28]

          40.          By 1980, the Cuban state spent $137 pesos per capita on education, i.e., 16 times the amount of 1958.

6.   Educational Methods and Content

          41.          It should be pointed out that educational methods require a fundamental overhaul.  Prior to 1959, most schools were paternalistic, hierarchical and authoritarian in their approach, relying of education through repetition and allowing little experimentation.  This has changed little.  It has been pointed out that at present teaching methods may be described as “catechists-authoritarian, with an approach centered on the teacher, characterized by a teacher addressing a class of passive students”.[29]  This method has become widespread, even at the university level, because apparently all education in Cuba is essentially political, and the country has an official political ideology, which by definition is above and beyond any questioning.  This leads to dependence on the authority of teachers and to the nonexistence of democratic life in classrooms, except among the students themselves.

          42.          It should likewise be stated that neither parents nor legal guardians have the right to choose different or independent schools for their children, as these do not exist and are not permitted in Cuba.  Education is the exclusive prerogative of the State and the Constitution of Cuba of 1976 has formalized this monopoly.

          43.          With respect to the content of education, Cuban schools are required to follow the guidelines set forth by Marxism-Leninism, as interpreted by the State.  Educational and moral teaching is given by the State and not by parents, at least in the schools.  It has been rightly observed that “Cuban education suffers from a lack of freedom”.[30]  This is due to several factors: (1) there are no independent schools; (2) there are no alternative ways of approaching reality within the school system, or even recognition of other viewpoints, since censorship is rigorous.

          44.          Cuban education appears to promote racial and ethnic tolerance, and conscientiously seeks to reduce prejudice based on sex (this latter is a recent phenomenon).  Likewise, it seeks to promote friendship among peoples (the thousands of foreign students who are educated on the island are testimony to this).  However, religious or political points of view contrary to those of the State are not tolerated.

          45.          As a matter of policy and principle, the educational system discriminates for political reasons.  This is particularly true beginning at the secondary level, and occurs also with respect to scholarships.  Denunciations have been received over the years of cases of students and teachers who have been expelled or who have lost their jobs for not accepting the political or ideological requirements approved by the State.  Thus, in April 1971, a Cultural and Educational Congress was held in Havana, and its final declaration established that school personnel at all levels would observe the political, ideological and moral views established by the State.[31]  More recently, on March 12, 1980, the Government issued Law Decree No. 34 which establishes that students, teachers and workers may be expelled from educational institutions for “defaming or publicly disparaging the institutions of the Republic and the political, social and mass organizations of the country, as well as its heroes and martyrs”.  In other words, to express an opinion may eliminate the possibility of access to education as well as to employment.  Likewise, for example, 411 students who passed the admission exam for medical school with high scores were not allowed to continue their education, because they had “bad political attitudes”.

          46.          Others have also been denied admission for being considered “morally deficient”, which in Cuba has the connotation of homosexuality.[32]

          47.          In view of the above, it may be considered that notable progress has been made in Cuban education since 1959.  The situation was well described in the statement that “One of the most impressive results of the revolutionary rule in Cuba is the expansion of the scope and the domain of the educational system.  More people are now educated than ever before, including more adults.  Education is now perceived to be relevant to a larger number of issues than ever before, from the running of the home to the running of the government.”[33]

          48.          Primary and secondary education is accessible to all, is free of charge at all levels and compulsory up to the ninth grade.

          49.          Technical, vocational and university education now reaches a greater part of the population than ever before.  Education for adults has been a constant concern of the State, which has been promoted and intensified, and the positive results have been numerous.

          50.          Economic difficulties are not a definitive obstacle to school attendance.  Scholarships provide more opportunities than previously, and the material conditions for teaching have been improved.

          51.          Neither social class, nor race, nor sex appear to play a role in access to education.  Place of residence continues to work to the disadvantage of the rural population, but there is a trend toward greater equality between urban and rural areas, which represents a large difference with respect to the past.  Nevertheless, educational discrimination for political and even religious reasons is a continuing phenomenon and one  which must be emphatically condemned.