Reed G

Language: English
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Page: 7-9
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The "Abel Santamaría" school in Havana had moved since my last visit there in the late 1970s. Once occupying a converted residency in the Miramar section of the city, the school is now in a more modern building with open-air hallways surrounding an inner courtyard. Devoted to visually-impaired children, it is one of Cuba’s 396 schools for specialneeds children, which enroll some 40,000 students across the country and employ 15,000 professionals.
But not only the physical plant of this school has changed: added to its original goals— rehabilitation and education—is a third mission indicative of an evolving national policy on the role of special education institutions. In a program begun just two years ago, the Abel Santamaría now prepares its students to eventually transfer to regular public schools. Its faculty work with teachers and classes at the new schools to develop a nurturing, inclusive environment.