The avalanche of teachers, academicians and researchers that every two years arrive in Havana to participate in Pedagogy, its call does not have a geographical frontier. People from all over the world come to this event, beyond the Latin American and Caribbean environment, as it has been since the beginning.
The visitors arrived –to participate in this event-, convinced that in Cuba, as well as its sympathy, they will find useful educative experiences for the different teaching levels and contexts. Meanwhile, our teachers, always ready to share information also enriched their knowledge from their testimonies of those who in their own countries face unemployment, inequalities, budget cuts, difficult life and work conditions.
Pedagogy 2015, besides its overwhelming assistance of 3,855 delegates from 43 countries, let the mutual learning on the basis of the best practices in several spheres: citizens’ education of values in the 21st century, the initial and permanent formation of professionals in education, labor formation according to the social needs, and the challenge of integration of school-family-community.
It is worth saying that even though Cuba has an advance position, not everything is solved and the main challenge –as the Cuban minister of Education, Ena Elsa Velazquez said in her address at the opening ceremony-, is precisely to improve the quality of education with better preparation and learning of the teaching staff.
In an interview with the press minutes later of the closing activity, the official declared: “When we talk to the foreigners, we do not tell them every things are rose-colored. We say what we are doing, the deficiencies we have, but also the political will of the Cuban Revolution and the Minister of Education to keep on advancing.”
Something sui generis in the Congress, to do in future ones, was the meeting of the Minister of Education with the provincial and municipal directors and the schools, present in Pedagogy 2015, “a stop on the way,” as the Minister said to evaluate and know what is being done in relation to the adaptations of the school calendar, training and self-preparation of the teachers, the vocational preparation and professional guide, the importance of the libraries to improve the students’ integral culture, among other topics.
Many of the results shown this time will be presented in the National Seminar for the preparation of the next academic course –foreseen to be held from March 31 to April 2- with the purpose to start redesigning what we will do and socialize the best experiences, because there are schools that have great successes and are well known as paradigms by the parents and the students.
Just having the experience to have celebrated 13 editions before and a hard organizing job, helped to successfully develop 16 symposiums, three forums, central and special activities in the frame work of Pedagogy, as well as the Assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Educators whose foundation in 1990 came as a proposal of Fidel Castro.
Another important thing was the celebration of the 20th Congress of the American Educators Confederation headed by the union leader Fernando Rodal, whose second working session took place at the Cuban Workers Federation’s venue, with a debate panel on the union of the workers from this sector for an education with values and quality.
On the fringes of the real academic and curricular aspects, in one of the three forums organized (The unions and the organizations of teachers and students in the educational development), union leaders with leftist proven commitment talked about the socio-political realities of their countries and, likewise, condemned the imperialist blockade against Cuba and the economic war orchestrated by the Venezuelan fascist opposition against the Bolivarian Revolution.
Once more, conceived as a platform of common interests, Pedagogy 2015 reaffirmed itself as a great classroom, not only expositive, but also in search of solutions. A plural space, diverse, open to the most advanced and cultivated thoughts in relation to what has to be with the Education the world needs today.
