- NEIGHBORS TO THE SOUTH
“The Figure Published by The Miami Herald is Absolutely False”
By Manuel Alberto Ramy
The building is modest, but well situated – at the famous 23rd Ave. and F St. in El Vedado, Havana. It’s where you will find the Cuba’s Ministry of Higher Education. All things related to higher learning fall under its responsibility.
It’s 11:30 on a hot June morning, 88 degrees on this day of St. John. My appointment is with the officer that controls statistics at the ministry, particularly those related to enrollment. Her name is Silvia Viña Prieto – young, blonde and thin, what young women’s magazines promote as hip.
I press the On key to my tape recorder.
Progreso Weekly (PW): According to an article published on Sunday June 22 by The Miami Herald, journalists Amy Driscoll and Larry Lebowitz write that “University enrollment has fallen 46 percent” in Cuba. Is this true?
Silvia Viña (SV): The official figure for the year 2000-2001 was 137,000 university students. In 2001-2002 it was 160,000; and in 2002-2003 there was an enrollment of 211,000, which is 30 percent higher than the previous year. As you see, there is a constant growth in enrollment in higher education. Obviously the figure published by The Miami Herald is absolutely false. Contrary to a decrease, there is an increase in enrollment in higher education.
PW: Have you a forecast for next September?
SV: We believe there will be almost 300,000 students.
PW: What is the reason for the increase?
SV: Cuba’s goal is to have a cultured and educated population, so to extend higher education even more the process of universalization of education has been strengthened and we have created a university presence in all 169 municipalities of the country.
PW: How many institutions of higher learning are there in Cuba?
SV: There are 64 institutions. Fifty-two are universities and the rest are specialized institutes of higher learning. Now you must add the 169 municipal university precincts recently created.
I wonder where the The Miami Herald writers got their information. Not only has university enrollment not fallen by the absurd figure of 46 percent, but it has increased significantly. The aforementioned journalists could have easily checked. All they had to do was ask. Other claims by Driscoll and Lebowitz are in the process of being verified; in this specific case, the article lied.
Manuel Alberto Ramy is Havana correspondent for Radio Progreso Alternativa and edits the Spanish-language pages of Progreso Weekly.
