CubaPLUS Magazine

"Children are the ones who know how to love because children are the hope of the world"... phrase said by the National Hero of Cuba, José Martí, about infants and today, June 1, it is important to remember it, when their Day is celebrated Internationally.

Established by the United Nations in 1956, International Children's Day, in honor of the approval of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, is an obligatory celebration throughout the world, which calls for reflection, because according to the latest estimates, around 160 million children were in infant labor around the world at the beginning of 2020, which affects their education and their physical and mental health.

In Cuba, a small underdeveloped Caribbean country, currently facing serious economic difficulties, the situation is different, since for more than six decades it has prioritized care for the little ones, including adolescents, and ensures their rights to education and health, among other aspects of life are guaranteed through the Family Code and other government provisions.

According to statistics from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in Cuba, 2.3 million inhabitants out of a total of 11.2 million are under 18 years of age. The net enrollment rate in primary education is 99.1%, and the gross enrollment rate in secondary education is 96.4%, with high gender parity rates at all levels of education.

On the other hand, the country gives priority to the integral development of early childhood with education and health programs, among them the so-called "Educate your child" and in the case of children under 5 years of age, the Cuban educational system pays attention through non-formal channels. It is also important to note that education in the largest of the Antilles is compulsory up to the ninth grade and for infants with special needs there are some 440 schools in the national territory.

Finally, it should not be neglected that those little ones who for some reason such as being orphans, abandoned, or having sick and disabled parents, among other problems, lack protection. family, they have protection and education until they reach adulthood in homes for children without filial protection that exist throughout the country.