Stacy Wurscher
On our schedule today was a lecture on education and a visit to the University of Havana. The lecture was interesting as the professor really raised more questions about the educational system in Cuba then she presented. The professor's lecture was more about the past and what happened in the special period and the literacy campaign, more to come on this in another blog posting.
We then found out how the school system works by asking our school guide/translator, Lilly. At certain points in the student’s life they need to take “tests” to pass. When they reach about high school grade 11 here, they take their last “test” to pass. This brings high anxiety to them and the family as these results set the rest of their future in to what they will study and their profession. The student will list in order what they would like to do as their profession. Once they get their “test” results back, it is match with what they “picked”. If their scores match they can pick what their profession will be. If not the counselor, will suggest what would be the best or matched profession would be the best for them. Granted, if you “picked” a profession where there are too many people in. This profession will not be listed for you to go into.
After this little lesson about their educational system and college, we visited the University of Havana. This is one of the oldest Universities in Cuba. There are so many interesting things to talk about for this blog. The one I thought would be interesting to you would be this statue of the Alma Mater. She was cast in 1919 and has the six disciplines that are taught there. She extends her arms to welcome all who go there. The students also take their graduation picture with her.