English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Private businesses are working at full speed to make skirts, shorts, pants, and shirts or polo shirts. 14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, August 14, 2026 – With just over two weeks to go before the school year begins, the State appears to have definitively washed its hands of providing uniforms for students. Their production and sale … Continue reading “The State Washes Its Hands of School Uniforms in Cuba”
Unlike rationed sales, it is possible to purchase as many pieces as you can pay for. 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 8, 2025 — Tired of long lines, missing sizes and poor fabric quality, Cuban families are increasingly choosing to buy school uniforms in the private sector or abroad. The opening of Figuera, a … Continue reading “With Better Quality, the Private Sector Has Ended the State Monopoly Over School Uniforms”
Due to lack of fabric, there will only be enough for four grades and if the parent has the patience to endure hours of waiting in line 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez, Havana, 5 August 2024 — The sale of school uniforms, which officially began on August 1, is already a display of long lines and … Continue reading “Like Every Year in Cuba, the Circus Begins to Get School Uniforms”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 26 July 2019 — Bulletin boards in schools or workplaces are often ornaments hung in a corner, loaded with historical events and photos that nobody pays attention to. However, at certain times they gain prominence and dozens of eyes gather around, such as when the date school uniforms will go on sale is … Continue reading “Patience, This Year the School Uniforms Are Late”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 August 2023 — Two weeks before the start of the school year, the official press warned that the teacher deficit will once again be one of the main problems of the period 2023-2024. In Las Tunas alone, a deficit of 700 teachers is estimated, according to an article published in Periódico 26. … Continue reading “With a Deficit of 700 Teachers and a Shortage of Uniforms, the Cuban School Year Will Begin in Las Tunas”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, November 28, 2022 — Not even in Cuba, immersed in a deep economic crisis, do children cease to be excited about the first day of school. Thus, this Monday, when the 2022-2023 cycle begins, enthusiasm and shouts were evident at the school doors, not only in Havana but in other provincial … Continue reading “With Uniforms Donated by China and Without Textbooks, This is How the School Year Begins in Cuba”
Families in Matanzas pay up to 300 pesos a week for private tutors amid an unstable teaching staff and reduced class hours. 14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Matanzas, September 2, 2026 – At eight o’clock Tuesday morning, September 1, at the Mártires del Goicuría School Center in the city of Matanzas, one of the sounds most … Continue reading “In Matanzas, Cuba, the School Opens, but the Teacher Has To Be Found Elsewhere”
Schools face numerous difficulties, including shortages of teachers, uniforms, transportation and food 14ymedio, Madrid, August 31, 2026 – The desperate race to guarantee a normal school year, something the Government has already acknowledged will not happen, has pushed authorities to turn to small and medium-sized private enterprises. In Camagüey, the official press reports, “state and … Continue reading “Private Companies Will Sponsor Schools in Camagüey, Cuba, to Alleviate State Shortages”
The Minister of Education admits that only 73% of teaching positions are filled and that uniforms “will not be available for all students.” 14ymedio, Havana, August 28, 2026 / Despite the fact that many mothers doubt if it is practical to send their children to school, and despite the country experiencing its worst economic crisis … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Acknowledges That It Will Not Be Able To Guarantee In-Person Classes for the School Year”
In the absence of uniforms, many young people wear casual clothing and even a garment until recently banned in schools, the ‘jeans of the Empire’. 14ymedio, Havana, 1 September 2025 –The beginning of the school year in Cuba, this Monday, was far from the epic repeated by the state media, between promises of “celebration” and … Continue reading “The New School Year Starts in Cuba With Full Classrooms, Few Teachers and Empty Backpacks”
Authorities admit on Cuban Television that uniforms will only be available for students in the initial years. 14ymedio, Havana, 29 August 2025 — On the Round Table TV program this Thursday, Cuba’s Education authorities who, until now, only only offered glimpses of the problem to the official press, finally acknowledged the magnitude of the delays … Continue reading “For the New School Year in Cuba, Everything is Missing and Some Schools Will Not Open Their Doors”
A worker shortage, obsolete technology and power outages hamper production 14ymedio, Havana, 12 October 2024 — On Saturday, state-run media released new data on the decline of the island’s textile industry. An article published in “Invasor” reports that, last August, school uniform sales were impacted not only by a shortage of raw materials but also … Continue reading “Cuba’s Textile Industry Is Dressing Children and Soldiers in Uniforms Made from Discarded Curtains”
Iván García, Desde La Habana, 10 October 2024 — As always on the island, the official story is far removed from reality. A secondary school methodologist in a Havana municipality says that in meetings with senior officials from the Ministry of Education, political slogans predominated in an attempt to camouflage the disaster in the planning … Continue reading “Cuba, Fewer Teachers and More Indoctrination in Schools / Iván García”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 2 September 2024 — Not all Cuban children will start classes this Monday, when the 2024-2025 school year has been inaugurated with great fanfare. In Havana, for the next 15 days, some of them will have to work, either in cleaning, or in gardening, or even in other tasks, in … Continue reading “Washing Bottles Instead of Going to Class, the Beginning of the School Year for Many Students in Havana”
Natalia López Moya, Havana, 14 August 2024 — It is time to prepare school supplies, to wait in long lines to buy the uniforms that students will wear to school in September, but also to start looking for solutions to alleviate one of the most serious problems in Cuban schools: the lack of hygiene and … Continue reading “Eight Hours Without Going to the Bathroom, the Daily Ordeal of Girls in Cuban Schools”