-DATE-
19810707
-YEAR-
1981
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
GRADUATION-MANUEL ASCUNCE DOMENECH UNIV.
-PLACE-
CIUDAD LIBERTAD IN HAVANA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA DOMESTIC SERVICE
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19810707
-TEXT-
FIDEL CASTRO ADDRESSES GRADUATING TEACHERS

FL072352 Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 2300 GMT 7 Jul 81

[Text] There will never be too many teachers and professors in our country,
Commander in Chief Fidel Castro stressed in his closing remarks at the
commencement exercises for 10,658 graduates of the Manual Ascunce Domenech
University Pedagogical detachment, held at the proving grounds of Ciudad
Libertad in Havana City. The young professors are members of the fifth and
sixth contingents of the detachment and of the third, the contingent which
took an advanced course.

[Begin Castro recording] We can say that this historic graduation is in
reality a reason for pride in the revolution. [applause] I doubt that at
any time in any country, having a population of some 10 million
inhabitants, a graduation has been held in 1 day for 10,658 professors, all
of them with 4 or 5 years of completed university studies. I, of course, am
absolutely sure that no Third World country, whose conditions you all know,
has graduated at any time more than 10,000 professors from one school term.
Anyone can understand how much this graduation enriches our wealth of
educational cadres and our reserves of professors, reserves which will
serve not only to improve the quality of our education and to help other
peoples in certain cases, but will also make it possible for us to continue
to raise the level of quality of our teaching profession. [end recording]

The president of the Councils of State and Ministers and first secretary of
the PCC Central Committee praised the response given by the Cuban youth to
the call made by the revolution to solve the situation of the large masses
of students who were promoted from sixth grade to secondary level.

Elsewhere in his speech, Fidel referred to the responsibility resting on
the shoulders of the new graduates as of now. [Begin Castro recording] In
addition, the educator must be an activist of the revolutionary policy of
our party, a defender of our ideology, of our moral values, of our
political convictions. Thus, he must be an example of a revolutionary,
beginning with the requisite of being a good professor, a disciplined
worker, a professional with the desire to excel, and untiring fighter
against all wrongs and a flag-bearer of efficiency and excellence. [end
recording]

The educator educates by example wherever he might be, Commander in Chief
Fidel Castro asserted. Fidel told the 10,658 graduates that they should
never be satisfied with the knowledge they have and should resort to
self-study; self-training is the foundation of the professor's culture, the
first secretary of our party asserted in this speech at Ciudad Libertad.
-END-