HAVANA — Cuba finished the
second step in the process of
People’s Power elections which
involved close to four million vot-
ers who nominated 27,000 candi-
dates, among them four thousand
women.

This preliminary figure taken
from the results of the electoral
commissions indicates that the
majority of the Cuban people par-
ticipated in the election process
which began on August 16.

In the first experiment with
People’s Power bodies in 1974 in
Matanzas province, only 3% of
those nominated in the Municipal

CHILE SPENDS
MILLIONS FOR ARMS

MEXICO CITY — Hortensia
Allende, widow of the murdered
Chilean president said here
Sept. 5 that the Chilean military
regime has spent $409-million
on weapons over the past three
years.

The United States supplied
$270-million in arms, France
$91-million,, Federal German
Republic $2-million. England
$16-million, Brazil $5-million,
Argentina $20-million and Is-

rael $1-million.

Assemblies were women. This
new process in which 4,000
women were chosen as candi-
dates for People’s Power dele-
gates demonstrates an under-
standing of the need for women to
take part in directing the affairs of
the state. : :

The work done by mass organi-
zations for the elections was out-
standing, especially by the Com-
mittees for the Defense of the
Revolution with their close to five
million members. The commit-
tees play an important part in
mobilizing the population for
the elections on the municipal
level and their ranks will provide
the majority of the future dele-
gates and deputies of the new
government.

Their members will devote
their entire activity to the setting
up of People’s Power organs in
Cuba in hommage to the 16th an-
niversary of the founding of the
organization.

An important ongoing stage in
the institution of People’s Power
is the appointment of the electoral
commissions, the setting up of
polling booths, the biographies of

the candidates and the registering ©

of voters. Between September 8

Skyline of Havana, capital of socialist Cuba.

and 10 the biographies and vot-

The elections schedule - has

ing prepared for the people to go

er’s lists were posted in public been fulfilled to date and through- to the polls October 10.

places and in the polling stations.

out the nation conditions are be-

— Prensa Latina

1 education, under the
irmanship. of Edgar Faure,
ere? premier of France.
‘Ve might add that he_also
‘bed as minister of education.
Me commission was to formu-
& similar principles and
lommendations ona worldwide
ile. Both sides of experts
Nhed their work about the
‘he time. Their position on
Mme questions does not
(hicide.

"here is no need to talk about

>
y

1

\The fact is however,
tat nothing, not even the
&st machines can re-
(lace a good teacher.
Yachines and methods
Ray accelerate teaching
‘ut they cannot replace
te person.”’

I

A

d

Ying illiteracy in Poland,
wut removing barriers to a
suary school education, or
‘tut equal rights for teachers —

lems that we read about in

tUNESCO report. But many of
“problems are the same.
hat is true. We might give
th examples as the theses about

educating society and open
Spols, about the need to learn
-\s and efficiency instead of the
h-sided training of the memory,
eut the life-long educational
trams. We might also mention
dneed for an elastic system, for
Soad training program.

aure’s report, like the Polish
h>yrt, substantiated the thesis
) a person changes his profes-
il} several times during a
time. For economic considera-

_Education Minister Kuberski meeting. students.

tions it is necessary to ponder
what basic education will best
serve this purpose. The authors
of the two reports, like others
who studied this problem, con-
cluded that the best basis is a gen-
eral secondary education.

Faure’s report was written in -

an atmosphere of criticism of the
school system, an issue that
dominated the minds in the
capitalist world. A good deal was
written about the crisis in educa-
tion, its forms, goals and
methods. We did not experience
this in Poland. :
We believe that the school will
always remain the principal ele-
ment of the educational system.

The idea that the school is dead
was related in the Western coun-
tries to the reduced function of the
teacher in the educational
process.

The fact is, however, that no-
thing, not even the best machines,
can replace a good teacher. Ma-
chines and methods may acceler-
ate teaching but they cannot re-
place the person. —

That is why we attache so much

- importance to teaching quali-

fications. That, too, is the thesis
put forth by the Polish Committee
of Experts. :

By what principle was the
Ministry of Education guided in
its work after the Committee of

Experts completed theirs?

We may state .the general
underlying principle as follows:
conditions must be provided for
universal secondary school
education.

The second principle is: the
disproportions that unfortunately
still exist between urban and rural
educational standards, must be
removed. Urban schools have
been highly organized as a result
of Poland’s dramatic develop-
ment and the incredibly quick
spread of urbanization.

But in the dispersed rural area
the schools remain small. In 1970
there were 4,441 schools in Po-
land taught by one teacher.

One of the factors that prepares
the ground for the reform are the
steps taken to concentrate pupils
in what are called rural commun-
ity schools.

The aim is to-give every rural _

community one school with a full
staff of qualified teachers (that is
with a minimum of thirteen, as
many as there are subjects
taught).

The remaining schools are
branches of the central school.
The central schools have been set

* up in 60 per cent of the. rural’

communities. The remaining 40
per cent will be established by
1980. In the next stage, the large
community schools will be trans-
formed into 10-year universal
secondary schools. In the cities
the problem is much simpler.

We shall formally begin the re-
form in 1978. I say formally be-
cause anyone with a little knowl-
edge about education knows that
a new school cannot arise.out of
nothing, from the foundations,
but must grow out of an existing
school. Nothing can be ac-

complished in one day in this
area. .

Thus in the 1978/79 school
year, the new program will be in-
troduced in the first three grades.
We shall proceed at a slower rate
in the years that follow. The new
program will be introduced in one
grade higher each year.

How in the briefest terms would
you define the difference between
the school system of the last thirty
years of Poland and that which is
our goal?

The school system played a
significant historical role, but

.the concept, the program, has

been almost campletely played
out. What we had was a good trad-
itional school system, school cur-
ricula based on memory work.

The new schools must take
what was good, that is the grade
and class system, and role of
teachers and a number of other
features. ee

This program will be com-
plemented by a system of integ-
raters, links between subjects.
The student will learn about the
general developments in the vari-
ous fields and about their mutual
relations. Knowledge will not be
automatically pigeon-holed and
divided into separate subjects.
The schools will teach skills, how

_ to pose and solve problems.

“We expect public dis-
cussion on the subject
will last about six
months. After this airing
of opinions we shall for-
mulate the cirricula and
define the subject scope
of the textbooks.’’

=

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 24, 1976—Page 7