The authorities of the ministries of Education from Cuba and Russia They agreed to send Russian teachers to the Island and the joint development of textbooks in that language for Spanish-speaking audiences, among other projects that strengthen the links between both educational systems.
The Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Denis Gribov, and the First Deputy Minister of Education of Cuba, Cira Piñeiro Alonso, discussed the development of cooperation between the two governments in the field of education, an area in which much has been achieved. advanced, especially in terms of the relationship between universities.
According to Russian media, both officials discussed the implementation of the international humanitarian project “Russian Teacher Abroad”, which will bring teachers of that language to the Island for the first time in decades.
Furthermore, the vice ministers spoke of the joint development of Russian textbooks aimed at Spanish-speaking audiencespart of Moscow’s project to expand its cultural and ideological influence in new areas of influence, for which Cuba serves as a platform in the Americas.
“We interact with the Cuban Ministry of Education in several areas. On the sidelines of the forum in Kazan, an agreement was signed for the development of the ‘Russian Professor Abroad’ project, within the framework of which it is planned to send two Russian professors to Cuba for the first time this academic year. Previously, we also agreed to create an interdepartmental working group on cooperation,” Gribov stated.
The official pointed out the importance of implement programs for the exchange of experiences between Russian and Cuban teachers and the prospects for cooperation in the field of secondary vocational education.
Gribov said that Russia calls on Cuban teachers to “study modern Russian methods of teaching and training qualified personnel”while foreign students in that country are invited to participate in the events of the All-Russian Professional Skills Championship Movement.
Apart from the above, representatives of both ministries They discussed the organization of recreational trips for children from Cuba to Russian federal children’s centerssomething about which no details were offered.
According to the report itself, Piñeiro Alonso visited educational organizations in Moscow and at the International Exhibition and Forum he signed a cooperation agreement with the Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Andrey Korneev.
The Russian language stopped being taught in Cuba after the fall of the USSR. But for several years there have been projects for its reintroduction in schools and universities. The Kazan Federal University, for example, has advanced initiatives with the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Pedagogical University of Havana, where Russian is taught as an elective discipline.
Weeks ago, Russian authorities announced that They seek to attract an increasing number of foreign students to their universities.
Kremlin officials do not hide the real purpose behind that plan: “An increase in the number of foreign students is important for both the state and universities,” said Daria Milyaeva, head of the Department of International Cooperation at the Moscow Pedagogical University. Moscow city.
According to the official, For the Russian State, foreign students are agents of influence abroad. “Very often in our professional activities we meet graduates of Russian universities who have a warm attitude towards Russia and are ready to help establish cooperation with the country they represent,” Milyeava stressed.
Moscow already announced the opening this year of a branch in Cuba of the Federal University of the South (UFS)an unprecedented action, which is complemented by constant exchanges and trips of officials from the official education system from the Island to Russia, and vice versa.
That decision was described by the Observatory of Academic Freedom (OLA), an independent Cuban platform, as “a disastrous precedent” that would allow the Kremlin, engaged in a project to rewrite history in its favor, to indoctrinate Cuban education students. unsupervised superior.
