As a recognition of the pedagogical mastery of educators and the level of successful performance in their work, for the first time the Ministry of Education (Mined) carries out a teacher categorization, a process that is part of the actions for the continuous improvement of the general education system and that in Ciego de Ávila involves 818 teachers.

The teachers are distributed among all educational levels, including pedagogical training, as well as the training centers of Culture and the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation.

From the Provincial Directorate of Education (DPE), Nolberto Roche Noa, its deputy director general, told Invasor that this is an unprecedented moment that, from now on, is expected to take place every year and in which educators can choose by three categories: Specialist Teacher, Principal Specialist Teacher and Expert Teacher.

In all three cases, he explained, it will be a mandatory requirement to be a graduate of a higher level and have been evaluated as Very Good or Good in the teacher evaluation of the previous course. Likewise, whoever aspires to the status of Specialist must accumulate, at least, five uninterrupted years of experience in the sector, with results in the participation of events; meanwhile, the Principal Specialist must have the academic title of Master or Postgraduate Specialist, add eight years of uninterrupted permanence in Education and an outstanding scientific activity.

While for the Expert Teacher it is required to have the scientific degree of Doctor of Science in some specialty and have 10 years of continuous teaching work; in addition to standing out for the recognition and prestige in the faculty of the institution, endorsed by an outstanding teaching-educational and scientific-pedagogical activity, from participation in events, a prolific scientific production and academic tutoring.

He added that teachers, as long as they meet all the requirements requested for each category, might aspire to any of them, without having to comply with an established order.

They will be maintained for a period of eight years, a period of time in which teachers may opt for a higher condition and must continue to comply with each of the requirements that made them worthy of it, because "in the event of any non-compliance, including the abandonment of the sector, the director of the school is empowered to request that it be withdrawn.

Since it began last January, with the submission of applications from interested educators who, according to the deputy general director, exceeded expectations—although municipalities such as Morón and Ciego de Ávila were below given their representativeness and the composition of their faculty— At the moment, the second stage of the process is taking place with the completion, in the months of March and April, of the evaluation exercises, in which 661 teachers opt for the category of Specialist Teacher, 155 for Principal Specialist Teacher and two for Expert Teacher. The third and final phase is scheduled for May, where the certification that endorses each teacher is accredited.

It is covered in Resolution 121/2022 of the Mined, which regulates the procedures for the granting of General Education teaching categories, teaching categorization, in addition to the social recognition that it implies for educators, also includes economic stimulation, translated into a payment extra that goes from 250.00 to 700.00 pesos, depending on the category reached, as specified by Dr. C. Mario Borroto Pérez, Science and Technology methodologist at the DPE. This, Roche Noa points out, helps to establish a salary differentiation that until now did not exist in the educational sector.

The ultimate intention, pointed out Borroto Pérez, is to raise the quality of the entire teaching-educational process and, therefore, improve the work that is being carried out in schools as part of the third improvement of the National Education System, from to promote scientific activity, innovation and motivation of educators.

Hence, Nolberto Roche Noa clarified, on this occasion, the municipal and provincial methodological structures are left out of the categorization process, since for now the priority is on teachers and directors of educational institutions directly linked to teaching.