PRESIDENT Fidel Castro was presented with a painting alluding to the recent figure of one million graduates from the Youth Computer Clubs, by Julio Martínez Ramírez, first secretary of the Young Communist League during the Cuban TV Informative Roundtable program on June 23.

"It’s a birthday present," commented Fidel, while with his vision of the future and his proverbial optimism, stressed: "We are on our way!"

The panelists reviewed the last 18 years of uninterrupted labor of the clubs. Raúl Van Troi Navarro, national director of the program, highlighted how this movement has been able to raise people’s knowledge of informatics at a mass level, which has also opened new channels for the defense of revolutionary principles.

He affirmed that now, with the existing 600 facilities and the professionalism of their workers, a further one million students could graduate in the next four or five years, thus making a reality the possibility of converting Cuba into an informatics power at world level capable of meeting any challenge.

It was announced that starting next month, the Youth Computer Clubs are to function 24 hours of the day so that students can take their studies to a higher level. The movement is to dedicate this summer break to diverse recreational activities for children.

Ernesto Hernández Rodríguez, deputy technical director of the program, described its teaching aspect as "a training source for human capital" and noted its social reach that takes in remote areas of the island.

At the same time, he spoke of the action taken to improve teaching, quoting among them those angled at learning other languages and the utilization of the internet as a means of teacher training.