"TODAY has been a great day for everyone, and I am happy to have shared in this day of celebration with the children and young people who have attended this event in representation of the entire country," affirmed President Fidel Castro during the ceremony celebrating the 45th anniversary of the José Martí Pioneers Organization and the 44th of the Young Communist League at the Karl Marx Theater in the capital.

"The pioneers have been present in the 24 Marches of the Fighting People, marching along with their parents and teachers, but also haranguing in every single one," he explained.

Cuban children participated in the process of irrevocability of the socialist nature of the Constitution, and signed 150,000 letters to President Bush telling him about the life and work of José Martí, he noted, adding "Cuban children, the pioneers, know that the Cuban Revolution is invincible."

"Outside our borders, Cuban children were at the World Festival of Youth and Students last year in Venezuela; at the Social Forums; at the Summit of the Peoples, always with solutions for the world’s problems." Fidel said he felt great satisfaction at seeing so much merit over these 45 years.

Referring to the Cuban education system, he said that it is improving every day, and that it will continue to rise with the purpose of providing better quality training for the future generations, who will be the ones to carry on the work of the Revolution.

He noted that the country’s pioneers are organized into more than 669,000 detachments and receive their classes from more than 200,000 teachers. The work of educators, families and the pioneer organization has made it possible for school retention rates to reach 99.9% and for class attendance to stand at 98.7%.

Fidel praised the audiovisual programs that have been implemented at all levels of elementary and secondary education as part of the education revolution that the country is undergoing with the goal of achieving better education for Cuban students.

Currently, elementary and secondary schools have more than 109,000 television sets; 40,000 VCRs; 32,000 computers; and 2,000 solar panels, which have been installed in schools lacking electricity.

For the upcoming school year (beginning in September), plans are to add more than 250,000 29-inch television sets to elementary schools so that students will have better visibility, the Cuban president said. These sets are standardized and more energy-efficient, he noted.

As part of the transformations in the secondary school system, more than 430,000 students will have their school-time nutrition guaranteed.

Fidel said that only a socialist society can educate in the finest principles of justice, solidarity, love for our fellow human beings, and the struggle for humanity.

He referred to the fact that currently, 12,000 doctors are being educated at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), and that this year, we will have 30,000 Latin American students.

He emphasized that the UJC is an important influence on the 2,492,715 Cuban young people aged 15-30, 24% of whom are members of that organization. The UJC has 3,453 professional cadres, 57.8% of whom are university students – with 1,328 studying at the university – while 32 are obtaining Master’s, Postgraduate or Doctoral degrees.

Fidel noted that last year, 23,369 UJC members went on to become members of the Party, as a continuation of the process initiated with the Battle of Ideas. He emphasized that in 1999, when the Battle of Ideas began, the UJC had a membership of 433,859 young people, and that membership has grown to its current 604,523, which he said is the largest in the organization’s history.

Just before concluding his speech, Fidel shared some news with the event’s participants regarding Elián González, the boy who was kidnapped by the Miami mafia, and who was returned to the island six years ago, thanks to the demands of our people, youth and particularly our children, as well as the international community.

Elián, he said, is an outstanding pioneer, with an excellent school record, who has won the respect and admiration of his teachers and classmates. He has won municipal contests and was elected as a delegate to the 4th Pioneers Congress, which will be held this year.

Those attending the celebration included Political Bureau members José Ramón Machado Ventura, Esteban Lazo, Carlos Lage, Pedro Ross, Abel Prieto, Pedro Sáez, Major of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés, and other leaders of the Party, state, and political and mass organizations. Special guests included Juan Miguel González and his family and relatives of the five Cuban heroes imprisoned by the empire.