University Colleges: a choice to promote personal advancement

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 20 (ACN) Among other processes designed to promote the advance of the new generations as an alternative to higher education is the establishment of the University College in its two variants.

Reynaldo Velázquez Zaldívar, general director of Undergraduate Studies of the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), stated that this modality allows students to do one or more years of their pre-university period in a higher education institution, with a view to their prior preparation and intensive vocational training for the courses of their choice, which will thus granted.

It is also an opportunity, he said, to learn from university professors and get familiar with higher education environments and activities.

The first variant of the University College favors low-enrollment or special-interest courses through personalized intensive programs and professional guidance, whereas the second one—currently implemented on a trial basis at the University of Havana—is focused on preparing students right on campus with a more demanding pre-university syllabus and increased participation in extracurricular activities.

Among the degree courses available for these purposes are Basic Sciences, Agriculture and Livestock Sciences, Nuclear Sciences, Pedagogy and Journalism.

This year, according to Velázquez Zaldívar, more than 6,300 places were awarded as an incentive to graduates of the University Colleges, winners of knowledge contests and the best graduates of Technical and Professional Education.