Cuba: Teachers for Inclusive Education, Identity

Havana, Jan 26. – More than 3,600 delegates from 20 countries attending the 2011 Pedagogy Congress in Cuba begin four days of discussions Tuesday in search of an inclusive education and in defense of national identities.

The forum, to conclude Friday at the Havana's Conference Center, discusses the achievements of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in becoming the first region free of illiteracy.

Cuban Education Minister Ena Elsa Velazquez said during a welcome address on Monday that education systems are called to defend the nations' identities, which still face neoliberal trends that affect this sector.

"We are in the presence of updating the concept of integration of our leaders, a dream we believe possible, another way, a search," the minister said. More than five million people learned to read and write with the Cuban teaching method "Yo, si puedo" (Yes, I can), led by Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador that joined Cuba after declaring free of illiteracy.

Velazquez stated that the educational transformations carried out in her country are a response to the changes the socialist system is to preserve.

Tuesday's events at the congress include lectures by Bolivian Education Minister Roberto Aguilar, and Venezuela's Jennifer Gil, who will talk about the role of new technologies in children's learning.(Prensa Latina)