Guantánamo City, Cuba – A new center for children with special educational needs is set to open on September 1st, transforming a historically meaningful building on josé Martí Street at the corner of Ramón street. The building previously housed both a police station during the Batista regime and, later, a school for children with special needs.
The newly renovated facility will provide therapeutic treatment for an initial enrollment of 19 children aged 3 to 6 with autism spectrum disorder, and six children with Down syndrome who were previously students at the existing institution. The center boasts modern amenities, including a playground, sandbox, and pool, alongside improved classrooms and psychosocial support spaces.
“With 12 highly qualified and certified teachers, and new resources such as a playground, a sandbox and a pool, the necessary media and better psychosocial comfort in the classrooms and exterior areas, the center will allow therapeutic treatment to an initial enrollment of 19 children, between 3 and 6 years of age with autism disorders and six with Down syndrome who previously studied in the institution,” explained Yannai Barrera Correa, the center’s director.
Barrera Correa emphasized the center’s importance in addressing a critical need within the Guantánamo community.”With the opening of the center, we respond to the concern of Guantanameros parents regarding the need for a quality early education institution for infants with these types of disorders, and the development in them of learning and communicative skills,” she stated.
The opening of this center represents a significant investment in early intervention services for children with developmental disabilities in Guantánamo Province. The location’s history-from a symbol of the pre-revolutionary Batista regime to a space for nurturing education-underscores the Cuban government’s commitment to social progress and inclusive education. The Granma landing, a pivotal moment in the Cuban Revolution, is also historically linked to the building’s prior use as a school.