IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 62

become real teachers or educators. Most
of them are young people who have
interrupted their studies after completing
ninth grade or in transitioning to precollege or tech school. Others study at
the peasant worker’s school to make it
up to twelfth grade. They do not end up
working at schools by vocation, but
rather to solve their own, temporary,
economic problems. Many of them
practice inadequate social behavior,
utilize incorrect language, show a lack of
responsibility, and reveal instability. If
they are not properly prepared for life,
how can they educate our children,
according to José Martí’s maxim: “to
educate is to prepare a man for life.” To
develop a vocation for teaching, there is
a focus on fomenting interest in teaching
in fifth and sixth grade. In this initiative,
children do different activities, teach
classes, prepare teaching methodology,
and study the lives of great Cuban
teachers. These students continue
participating in these interest groups
during their secondary school years, year
after year, but the result is the same: the
proposed goal of incorporating them into
education schools is not met. The
situation is quite similar with the
students who do finish pre-college: few
of them apply to teaching careers. Of
those students who do go into teaching
via any one of the aforementioned
initiatives, few have distinguished
themselves scholastically and have
chosen the career because it is not
academically demanding. In addition, if
those students who do get high grades
lean towards teaching careers, many lack

parental support, since they don’t want
their children to be teachers. Cuba’s
educational problems are difficult and
will continue to be so. Teachers are
increasingly expected to excel in their
classes, but barely have time to prepare
themselves; they are expected to have
more commitment, but the work is
exhausting. The conditions are not
adequate, but quality inspections,
reviews and controls are constant.
Generally, the work day for a Cuban
teacher starts at 7:50AM; he or she
teaches the classes assigned to them and
does shifts in so-called special subjects:
library, computers, English, or physical
education. In addition to this, they must
also coach sports because there are not
enough Phys. Ed. specialists, or they are
absent. There aren’t many of these
specialists, so teachers have to take on
that load and keep working with the
students. They take them to the cafeteria
and watch them at their break. At 2PM,
they continue with obligatory or nonassigned activities till 4:20PM. After
that, they generally face transit issues
and get home to start on their second
jobs—dealing with everyday challenges
and shortages. They are required to do
no fewer than 12 hours per week of self