Cuban Daycares, Happy Childhood for Over 50 Years

Sancti Spiritus celebrates the institution of daycare services in Cuba, an alternative born on April 10^th, 1961, which helped develop the role of women in society. There are 32 day care institutions in Sancti Spiritus, 11 of which are found in the capital city.

Although most preschoolers from this central Cuban province are enrolled in the so-called Educa a tu Hijo (Educate your Child) program, a non-institutional choice that trains them somehow for school, the truth is that daycare centers are much more suitable for their education.

According to Yanexsy Moreno Pérez, head of the Provincial Preschool Education Office in this territory, the everyday educational program at the daycare institutions is divided into three main tasks, which are role games, planned activities and independent activities. She also explained about the didactical material used in the classes, and praised the support of the parents.

The preschool program includes physical, plastic and musical education, as well as some basics on mathematics, mother tongue, objects and their relation with one another, and ideas about social life.

There are 32 day care institutions in Sancti Spiritus, 11 of which are found in the capital city. Children attending daycares (over 4 500), only represent 10% of the universe of children aged cero to six years old.