Cuba recalls retired professors to cover university deficit

Cuba recalls retired professors to cover university deficit
Published August 15, 2014 EFE

The Cuban government has authorized universities to hire professors
already retired in the same positions they had before retiring, in order
to cover the existing deficit of educators.

The Council of Ministers' decision, published in the official gazette,
will allow retired university professors to return "by age" to the
classroom and be paid the regular salary plus their current pension,
which could motivate many to offer their services.

The measure has precedents at other educational levels, to which
thousands of retired teachers have returned in recent years.

In 2008, President Raul Castro urged retired teachers to resume their
careers and approved a legal framework allowing them to work without
losing either their income or their rights as pensioners.

In the case of universities, the government now says that "it has become
necessary to ensure the human resources and the infrastructure needed to
improve the quality of higher education."

University education in Cuba currently has 67 institutions and 35,000
instructors and researchers, official media said.

With this ruling, Cuba continues its adjustments to deal with problems
in the field of education, once a showpiece of the Cuban Revolution.

In recent years, difficulties in the sector have become a source of
controversy on the island, where students represent almost a fifth of
the population. EFE

Source: Cuba recalls retired professors to cover university deficit |
Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/08/15/cuba-recalls-retired-professors-to-cover-university-deficit/