Havana - The Cuban Ministry of Higher Education (MES) stated some details about the short cycle program in Higher Education (ESCC), regarding the publication on Wednesday in the Official Gazette of a resolution on this new modality of study.

The ESCC is defined as a professional training, which is included as a higher education subsystem. It also refers to the aspects to be taken into account for its implementation.

A press release from the MES states that the new educational level requires a professional qualification that surpasses a middle-level technician, but it is lower than a university graduate.

The approval and implementation of the training programs at this level are based on the demands of the Central State Administration bodies, national entities, provincial and municipal councils of the People's Power and higher organizations of business management, the text says.

The steps should be reconciled with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, as part of the regulation on the training and distribution of the qualified workforce.

All individuals living in Cuba, as long as they are high school graduates and those who have dropped out of a university career or a technical specialty with 12th grade, will have the right to enter.

The age limit for admission is the same established for the different kinds of higher education courses in the General Standards of the Higher Education Income System.

Although entrance examinations are not established, each university can establish criteria according to the enrollment capacities or the specific characteristics of the territories, for which they will have the opinion of the requesting body of the training.

In the current 2018-2019 course, necessary adjustments were made in the curricula of high school training courses so that the students can complete their training and graduate with a diploma in Short-Cycle Higher Education in July 2019.

According to data from this school year, the higher education enrollment in Cuba is close to 240,000 students, distributed in 22 universities throughout the island.