[NYTr] Cuban Community-Based Universities Hold First Graduation Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:29:56 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles Cuban Community-Based Universities Holds First Graduation Havana, Jul 23 (acn) More than 470 youths received their bachelor degrees this Monday in the first graduation of the Community-based University program that started in Cuba 2002. It is part of the government's effort to further expand higher education nationwide. Cuba's Higher Education Minister Juan Vela Valdes said the alternative has proven sustainable and effective, noting that the retention rates and the number of students who complete studies are very high. He recommended that the program be used in those countries that need to increase their number of professional workers. Valdes said the first graduation is only the beginning of a much more ambitious program that seeks to further increase the number of community-based university sites. Carlos Alberto Perez, one of the graduates, said he was grateful for the opportunity given by the government to become a professional. He highlighted the quality of professors. Present at the ceremony were also Lazara Mercedes Lopez Acea, member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, and Julio Martinez, first secretary of the Cuban Young Communist League. The meeting was held at the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Square across from the US Interest Section in Havana. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================