![]() ![]() Furthermore, Castro went as far as to state the need for the rural populations to take on the role of teacher, educating the urban populations. ![]() Besides literacy, the campaign aimed to create a collective identity of “unity, attitude of combat, courage, intelligence, and a sense of history.” Politicized educational materials were used to further these ideals. As Fidel Castro put it in 1961 while addressing literacy teachers, “You will teach, and you will learn.” Volunteers from the city were often ignorant of the poor conditions of rural citizens until their experiences during this campaign. So much so that the government placed urban teachers in rural environments, where they were pushed to become like the peasants in order to break down social barriers. The Literacy Campaign was designed to force contact between sectors of society that would not usually interact. Before the campaign, the rate of illiteracy among city dwellers was 11% compared to 41.7% in the countryside. ![]() The Cuban Revolution was driven by the need for equality, particularly among these classes. In pre-Revolutionary Cuba, there was a dichotomy between urban citizens and rural citizens (who were often agricultural workers). In addition to the renewal of Cuba's infrastructure, there were strong ideological reasons for education reform. During the turmoil of the first several years of the revolution, the flight of many skilled workers caused a “ brain drain.” This loss of human capital sparked a renovation of the Cuban education system to accommodate the instruction of new workers, who would take the place of those who had emigrated from the country. ![]()
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