Feature: Cuba enhances childcare despite U.S. sanctions

HAVANA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- At the very heart of Havana's El Vedado district, Little Sugar Crystal daycare welcomes over 150 children aged one to six each weekday.

Decorated with colorful alphabet murals and toys, it is one of more than 300 government-subsidized daycares around the city.

"I am learning many things and participating in different activities. We dance and sing beautiful songs," five-year-old Fabio Salabarria told Xinhua at the daycare.

Salabarria's classmate Lucia Copa, also five, said she had a lot of fun at the daycare playing games with other children.

"We like puzzles, and also playing dominoes and painting," she said.

Alba Alvarez, the daycare's director, believes such centers are fundamental to preparing children for the next stage in their education.

"Kindergarten education helps boost children's brains, and develop their communication skills and body language," Alvarez said.

Due to a growing demand for daycares, the Cuban government is working on building new facilities despite the economic hardships caused by U.S. sanctions against the island.

Meanwhile, the government has set up over 80 daycares at different workplaces. Parents of children with special educational needs or with two or more kids are given priority in terms of access to daycares.

According to Cuba's Education Ministry, Havana has the highest number of daycares in the country, followed by the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Holguin.

Currently, there are more than 1,000 daycares nationwide with some 143,000 children enrolled, the ministry said.

Both the quantity and quality of daycares are growing, said Maria de los Angeles Gallo, the ministry's national director of early education.

"Cuba is conducting a comprehensive review of our school programs," she said, adding that "at daycares, we will teach children foreign languages and environmental protection."

Cuba launched its daycare program in April 1961.