Cuba
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KEY FEATURES OF REVOLUTIONARY CUBA
The Cuban Revolution was the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and the establishment of a new regime led by Fidel Castro. Castro began changes that dramatically altered Cuba's political, health, educational, economical and social structure.
Education
Before Castro's takeover of Cuba, more than half of the children population were unschooled and literacy rates were around 42% in urban areas and 23.6% overall. 61% of the children did not go to school. In 1960, in a speech at the United Nations, Castro had proclaimed that "Cuba will be the first country of America that, after a few months, will be able to say it does not have one illiterate person. Castro stood to his words.
Castro strongly believed in education and began a literacy campaign to overcome these illiteracy rates with the slogan 'Revolution and education are the same thing'. A massive program to eliminate illiteracy was launched and established. Greater resources were devoted to the improvement of education facilities with 10 000 new classrooms and many new schools being built...