Towards New Challenges: Higher Education Celebrates Educator's Day

Facing the complex current context, the Ministry of Higher Education (MES) today held the central ceremony commemorating Educator's Day in the presence of Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic.

Walter Baluja García, Minister of Higher Education, recognized from Havana's José Martí Memorial that Cuban education is a pillar of national sovereignty and celebrated the international prestige achieved by this sector.

In his speech, he recalled the vision of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who considered universities to be the ideal scientific institutions for the nation to find solutions to its problems, and his permanent call to academics to continue this work in service of the homeland.

The ceremony was attended by Eduardo Martínez Díaz, Vice Prime Minister; Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto, Minister of Education; José Ángel Portal Miranda, Minister of Public Health; senior representatives of Cuban universities, as well as members of the Political Bureau, mass organizations, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and the Ministry of the Interior.

Among those present were Miriam Nicado García and Modesto Ricardo Gómez Crespo, rectors of the University of Havana and the Technological University of Havana (CUJAE), respectively.

Awards and Recognitions
During the ceremony, several decorations were awarded to dozens of academics and professionals for their services to education and the homeland.

President Díaz-Canel conferred the honorary title of Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba to Rolando Pascual Fundora, General Services Director of the Central University "Marta Abreu" of Las Villas, for his more than 50 years of dedication to the sector.

Similarly, the Minister bestowed the Frank País Order of first and second degree on professionals from across the country who have contributed to the development of Higher Education, in addition to presenting the José Tey Medal and the Distinction for Cuban Education to various academics.

A Teacher's Dedication
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Professor Estrella María Salvat Martínez, from the Central University "Marta Abreu" of Las Villas, evoked in her words the figure of Fidel Castro and his profound impact on the youth of the Centenary Generation, then university students, in their endeavor to rescue and defend the legacy of José Martí.

She highlighted the Literacy Campaign and the sacrifices of thousands of young people—the milestone commemorated on Educator's Day—as an example that marked the beginning of a path of social justice for the largest of the Antilles that continues today.

In thanking the recognition, she affirmed: "We live and work doing the best we can," alluding to her vocation to teach following the Martían principle of the universal right to education.

"We dedicate these recognitions to our families, to our parents, and to our children, who have seen us preparing classes and reviewing theses," she expressed, also dedicating them to her contemporaries and to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, leader of the Revolution, who, in her words, transformed the paradigm of education in Cuba.