Formal Education in Today’s Cuban Society

Miguel Arias Sanchez

HAVANA TIMES — Formal education plays a determining role in any society in the world. When I was younger, it was called Civic Education and its main objective was to create values and positive behaviors in individuals.

Today, the government is trying to form and rescue lost values via formal education which had been set aside in schools, which leave a lot to be desired. There are many examples; I only have to mention 2 or 3 for us to realize just how much has been lost in this regard in our country.

I have witnessed how a disabled person stops in front of the seat of another person who doesn’t have any motor problems, on the bus, and this other person not moving in spite of the seat being intended for people with special needs. When somebody brings this to their attention, they argue first and then they either get up complaining or don’t move.

Another example, somebody sits next to you with a radio blasting loudly without caring if this bothers you, you look at them to make them aware that it is and the music keeps on blaring in response.

The person who throws an empty can out of the bus window onto the street or the person who throws a candy wrapper out of the basket even if they do this in a public space. All of this indicates the extent to which basic values have been lost, the basic values which need to exist within any society.

This is why it is so important that this education is deepened and emphasized at home and at school.

There is no point in being an educated people if we aren’t a cultured people too. Saying good morning, sorry, thank you, giving up your seat to a person with problems or a child, helping a blind or old person to cross the street, makes us better people, it makes us more human and stronger as a result.

After Fidel Castro’s death, a lot of emphasis has been given to his “Concept of the Revolution”, where he pointed out in the year 2000: “Treat and be treated like human beings.”

All of the people who are the key players in the examples which I gave at the beginning of this article, need to internalize this part of Fidel’s “concept” very well so that they can rectify such deplorable behavior which doesn’t only go against our most sacred values as human beings but against the principals and ethics of our own country.