-DATE- 19890226 -YEAR- 1989 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F.CASTRO -HEADLINE- 12TH NATIONAL SEMINAR ON EDUCATION -PLACE- -SOURCE- HAVANA CUBAVISION TV -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19890306 -TEXT- Castro at 12th National Seminar on Education PA2702193689 Havana Cubavision Television in Spanish 0406 GMT 26 Feb 89 [Speech by President Fidel Castro at the closing ceremony of the 12th National Seminar on Education; date and place not given] [Text] Comrades, I think this should be a brief ceremony. You have been holding discussions for 3 days, and I think that you have done a good job. You deserve to be set free so that you can go and do your jobs. I cannot say that I know all about what you have been discussing and analyzing. I can only say that I have skimmed the report you have analyzed. I believe [Education Minister Jose Ramon] Fernandez will send me a synopsis of it. Everytime he sends me a synopsis of something, he sends me about 60 pages. [laughter] He does this at any hour of the day or night. It could be in the wee hours of the morning. Well, I take it and read it quickly. I had an opportunity to participate in the debates for a few hours, and I think I have an idea of the results of the seminar. I think they are good. In this era of so much criticism and self-criticism, one almost has to apologize to say that something is good. I sense a good attitude within the education sector. If we take into consideration that a similar meeting was held only 2 years ago and that not much time has passed, it seems to me that it can be said that great progress has been made between the 11th and the 12th seminars. I cannot say that much about the debates because they were not mentioned in the report I read. I am going to talk about what I perceived here at the meeting. However, the report covering the past 2 years is positive. I think that progress has been made in many areas. This was evident here, to a certain extent, in this afternoon's meeting--if we were to analyze certain aspects, for example. These were matters that were a big problem 2 years ago. There were talks, for example, on special education. I see that we are advancing quickly in this area. In a relatively short time, we will have the 80,000 students registered, which is the number we said was necessary. We must not get discouraged because the comrades of Pinar del Rio said that they have [words indistinct]. Do not go around believing that things are achieved easily. Do not go around believing that if we want to, we can solve this or that problem easily, or that if we want to, we can easily build a school of one kind or another. We have to fight hard to get these things. I follow principle of not getting discouraged. That is why one has to follow certain regulations. I have always carried out a number of economic projects, especially projects that constitute a means of saving foreign exchange or generating convertible foreign exchange. Other economic projects have also been carried out because we cannot get careless about the country's economic development, and with our very limited resources, economic projects are considered priorities. Construction and food production are considered very high priorities because of their importance. We have carried out a number of really ambitious food production programs and some very ambitious economic programs as well. We have been forced to give certain projects priority over others. I may, perhaps, have failed to make a thorough, in-depth review of all our projects. I am more familiar with issues pertaining to Havana, but I do not know what this year's plans are for child care centers, special schools, or medical clinics in the rest of the country. However, I believe that the comrades in the party have favored these plans because, after broadly analyzing the policy we have followed in the construction field, I asked the comrades on the board to discuss the plans with each one of the provinces to determine what projects had been given priority, and to determine the new priorities without sacrificing the projects already under way so that they would not be too adversely affected. I also asked them to discuss construction plans for social works with each one of the provinces. I have not seen them, but I am sure that the provinces must have supported them. Of course, among the social works, we have given priority to housing, and at the same time we have also included child care centers, special schools, and other necessary projects. I do not have all the details, but I will try to look into this as soon as possible. We still have some funds. There are still some reserves, so I do not believe construction plans lack money. It is possible that some of the projects already approved have not yet been started in some provinces, and maybe that is why there are no special schools in Pinar del Rio. However, I will continue fighting for that program. I will do everything I can, without sacrificing other things that are more urgent at this time. The housing program is the second priority, and it should be complemented with social works. We must build child care centers, schools, and medical clinics. The situation is different in Havana, where 110 child care centers have been built in 2 years. You can see that it was an effort. No child care centers had been built in Havana before those 110. Even if the state and the party thought that a child care center was urgently needed and should be built, it was not possible because there was no labor force. However, with the creation of the microbrigades, we have the necessary labor force. -END-