FREE ESSAY ON IS LITERACY A GOOD THING

IS LITERACY A GOOD THING

Essay IV
Is Literacy a Good Thing?
How many times do you remember saying to yourself, "I don't want to go to school today.",
or seen commercials where children do whatever it takes to stay home? Well lets just say
your not alone, however if you had the government on you, making sure you went, do you
still think you would've said that, or even worried about anything else like a job or a
family? Well when you have a communist government on you it's no longer a choice but, a
forced decision. Education is a priority in Cuban Society. And although we Americans
think we are smarter, we need to retest our abilities.
The Cuban Government provides free schooling from primary school to university or
technical school. Education is mandatory between the ages of 6 and 11 (which is when
children finish primary school). Almost all children continue with secondary education.
Cuba has an average of one teacher for every 45 inhabitants. The literacy rate, estimated
at 96% in 1995, is higher than that of any country in Central and South America. Cuba has
pre-schools available in urban centers, as well as special schools for the mentally and
physically challenged. There are schools for students gifted in sports and the arts.
Secondary school graduates may take college entrance exams or go to a technical training
institute. Cuba has 46 centers of higher education. There is general agreement that the
level of Cuban education is very high, but sources disagree as to why. Those favorable to
the Castro government claim that it is the result of the emphasis placed on education
since the revolution, while anti-Castro sources assert that the level of education in
Cuba has always been high. During the Spanish colonial days, there was almost no
education available in the rural areas where the peasants and slaves lived, although the
urban Spanish population had access to education for its children. During the U.S.
occupation of Cuba, plans were laid out and implemented to provide education for all
children on the island. Whereas in 1899, only 16% of the school-age population were
registered in school, that figure had risen to 40% in 1902, and that 40% was relatively
evenly distributed among the provinces. These impressive gains were not sustained during
the years of the republic. Although the overall literacy rate reached 72% by 1931, it
never went higher than that. School enrollment rates did not go over 60%, and a much
higher percentage of urban children attended school than did rural children. The dropout
rate after elementary school was high, especially in the rural areas. As mentioned
before, one of the immediate objectives of the revolutionary government was to improve
the educational system, partially as a medium for the creation of a new culture, but also
for the sake of improving the educational level of the populace as a goal in itself. 1961
was declared the Year of Education, and a remarkably effective campaign of adult
education was launched. Almost 300,000 children and adults were sent out into the country
side to teach under the slogan, If you know, teach; if you don't know, learn. By 1979,
the literacy rate in Cuba was higher than 90%; comparable to the rates in the United
States and other developed countries. 
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Cuban government revamped the school
system, abandoning the Soviet model for a more Western one that is difficult to find
information on. The recent Cuban entrants went to school primarily under the old system,
however, and so we will describe it here. In general, the system was characterized by
attention to the correct line, rigid curricula and teaching styles, and the development
of model socialist citizens. Classes were mostly in lecture format, with minimal
teacher-student interaction. Students were encouraged to memorize, and discouraged from
asking questions and thinking independently. Schools incorporated education into
community life by stressing group play, requiring students to care for the school grounds
and farms, teaching vocational skills, and focusing on the development of a politically
and morally correct background on the part of each student. 
Education was compulsory for six years. After that, students up to age 16 were required
to continue their education at the secondary level or to join the Youth Movement, which
combined study with vocational training and service. All schools were under the control
of the Ministry of Education, and were uniform in curriculum and scheduling throughout
the island. Students passed from one grade to the next via national examinations, and
their contributions to and attitudes toward socialism were taken into account when they
applied for higher-level schooling. There was a uniquely Cuban emphasis on the
combination of education and service. Even the littlest children were required to help
keep their school clean and tend its gardens, and many of the older ones attended
boarding schools during the week where they spent half a day in classes and half a day at
work on farms. The primary level was grades 1 through 6, and was compulsory and identical
for all children. They started at age 6 and attended classes 61/2 hours a day; they
studied basic literacy skills and composition in Spanish, basic arithmetic, and
ideological orientation. 
The secondary level was grades 7 through 9, 10, or 11, and a student could choose (or
have chosen for him) one of three tracks: general secondary, teacher training, or
vocational training. All tracks provided instruction in Spanish, mathematics, the
sciences, history, and technical/agricultural production. In the general secondary
schools there were 26 hours of instruction per week, in 9 or 10 subject areas, with no
electives. Students could go on to higher secondary schools for an additional three or
four years of education, so a number of Cubans who finished higher secondary school will
have had as much as 15 years of pre-college education. 
There are four universities in Cuba: La Habana, Las Villas, Camaguey, and Oriente. A
successful university candidate would have completed high school, passed an entrance
test, gone through a personal interview, and shown concrete evidence of a correct
revolutionary attitude. One of the more interesting aspects of the current problems in
Cuba is the emergence of English and its inclusion as a compulsory subject in the
education system. It is probably no surprise that English language training has not been
a high priority for the revolutionary government. However, the re-emergence of tourism as
a source of hard currency has made the ability to speak English more valuable. As it is
in the newly independent countries of the ex-Soviet Union, English is now the foreign
language of choice, officially acknowledged as the language of entry into the
international community. The Ministry of Education has made the study of English
compulsory in secondary schools, and several government programs in English have been
established for adults. 
There is a teacher-training program in English available in all the pedagogical
institutes. This program requires the student to spend five years studying grammar,
general linguistics, literature, and area studies of the English-speaking countries. The
program is remarkably successful considering Cuba's lack of resources. Knowledgeable
Americans have commented that these programs are current on recent developments in the
field of English language teaching but not surprising, considering that Cuba has always
maintained normal contacts with English-speaking Great Britain and Canada, and quiet
contacts with the United States. A great problem with English teachers at the moment
appears to be their abandonment of the profession in favor of the tourism industry.
Cubans who deal with tourists have access to hard currency in the form of tips, and this
access is enough to make a low-level job at a hotel more lucrative than a more
prestigious one as a teacher. Exactly what that figure means is a point of contention.
Not all figures from the Cuban government can be believed, and in any country the
literacy rate is as much a reflection of the definition of literacy used as it is of the
number of people who can read. It is clear, however, that almost everyone in Cuba has
gone to school, and the existence of well over a thousand libraries on the island attests
to the fact that the population is in general a reading one. 
Cuba has a population of about 10.8 million, 70% of whom live in the cities. What most
people don't realize in today's society is that numbers aren't always accurate. With such
a big populace on such a small amount of land, an education program is easily
implemented. Government programs, especially under Cuba, are easy to force on people.
With nowhere to run especially from an island, Cubans must obey Government policies. Laws
and programs must be followed or punishment will follow. If a bit more force were put
into education programs, by the Federal government, the United States' literacy wouldn't
continue to drop. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, we, the United States, tried to
help the education system in Cuba; We should now look at our own history and redo our
education system. If a countries' population can't read then how do we expect our
children to advance and lead our nation into the future.