THE CUBA REV I E W 



Public Instruction in Cuban Schools 



Data ol:)tained from the Cuban depart- 

 ment of public instruction shows that 

 Cuba spends annually for public instruc- 

 tion nearly $10,000,000, or a little less 

 than $4 per inhabitant. The primary in- 

 struction costs $8,234,000 and this sum is 

 distributed as follows: 



Teachers' salaries, $7,182,000. 



House rents, $439,000. 



Stationery, $215,000. 



Kindergarten, $168,000. 



For inspection, English, etc., $228,000. 



The number of children of sufficient age 

 to attend school is 26 per cent of the total 

 population, and reaches 700,000. 



The children registered in the 5,568 

 primary schools of the republic are 327,589, 

 an average of 58 for each school. The 

 urban schools number 2,691 and the rural 

 schools 2,877. 



The attendance in the past year was 

 52 per cent. 



The principal reason for poor attend- 

 ance is because the rural population is 

 widely disseminated throughout the island, 

 many of the roads are not in good condition, 

 and the distance is considerable, which 

 makes it impossible for the little ones to 

 make the trip to school unaccompanied. 



There are now 5,877 teachers in the 

 grammar and primary schools. 



In the year 1920 the number of primary 

 schools was increased with the addition of 

 368, including fifteen new kindergartens. 

 It is planned to add not less than 900 

 schools. 



The salaries of the teachers of the gram- 

 mar or primary schools range from $65 to 

 $85 per month. The bulk of applications 

 for teachers' certificates are from young 

 ladies willing to take up teaching as a 

 profession or career. They must study, 

 pass examinations, obtain approval, and 

 wait until a school is vacant, or enter as 

 an assistant. 



But it happens in Cuba, as in other 

 countries where, working at any manual 

 occupation, a man can earn $25 to $30 a 

 week, it is not easy to find a man willing 

 to study four years in a normal school and 

 then begin to earn $65 a month. 



For this reason many of these schools 

 are under the charge of j^oung ladies. 

 They direct schools in cities or rural dis- 



tricts, where the pupils are of both sexes, 

 without racial discrimination. 



The lessons are in Spanish, but there is 

 a very keen interest in the English lan- 

 guage. In all the schools of the second 

 degree the English language is taught, and 

 also in all private schools, of which there 

 are several hundred in the island. 



Department of Communications 



The Department of Communications of 

 Cuba has announced the opening of a 

 course of wireless telegraphy in the 

 Academy of the Department. To enter 

 the course it is necessary to be a Cuban 

 citizen, at least seventeen years of age, 

 of good moral character, and to know 

 telegraphy sufficiently well to receive and 

 transcribe fifteen words a minute. 



Diplomatic and Consular Service 



The National University of Ha^•ana has 

 opened a diplomatic and consular service 

 course in the College of Public Law. The 

 object of this course will be the proper 

 preparation of representatives of the 

 Republic in foreign countries, so that they 

 will be competent to fill in the most 

 adequate manner the positions entrusted 

 to them. 



School for Commercial Employes 



In order that boys and girls without 

 means may obtain the proper education 

 to enable them to enter business with 

 reasonable assurance of success, the Presi- 

 dent of Cuba has decreed the establish- 

 ment in Havana of two evening schools, 

 one for boys and one for girls. The chief 

 subjects taught will be: English, stenog- 

 raphy, shorthand in both English and 

 Spanish, arithmetic, spelling, writing, sales 

 methods, applied drawing and manual 

 training. In order to enter one of these 

 schools, an ajiplicant must be at least 

 fourteen years old. 



(J. S. Atlantic Fleet 



Units of the Atlantic fleet of U. S. 

 warships which have their winter base at 

 the New York navy yard sailed early in 

 January for Guantanamo, Cuba, for annual 

 target practice. 



