English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, December 7, 2023 — The so-called Third Improvement – an attempt to update the Cuban educational system and its institutions – did not reach the classrooms of Matanzas and Camagüey until this December, when the school year was about to finish its first semester. The new textbooks, which have been delivered to very … Continue reading “Books Arrive at Cuban Schools in the Middle of the Semester”
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 4 September 2023 — The school year that began this Monday in Cuba will be the first to follow the regular calendar after the interruptions and incomplete academic years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, few starts of the school year as painful as this one are remembered on the … Continue reading “Without Books, Uniforms or Teachers, Cuba’s Students Return to Class Under Painful Conditions”
14ymedio, Havana, 12 August 2023 — After three years of school closures due to a wave of covid-19 infections, the Government announced this Friday the start of the 2023-2024 school period under “normal conditions.”. The return, however, will be marked by a “difficult economic situation,” acknowledged President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who has already warned that the … Continue reading “Without Notebooks and Pencils, Cuba Prepares for the Start of the School Year in September”
14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 26 August 2022 — After two years of ups and downs, between the forced confinement of the pandemic and the economic crisis, the beginning of the school year in September is causing more than one scramble in Cuban homes. The return to school will take place in the midst of high … Continue reading “Cuban Parents are Distressed by the Outrageous Prices of School Supplies”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 8 November 2021 — For more than half an hour, the students of the José Luis Arruñada school, in Havana, waited standing in the courtyard for the activity to begin to mark the restart of the 2020-2021 school year. Already at the parents’ meeting, held last week, the teachers had informed everyone that … Continue reading “A Harangue Against July 11 (11J) to Start the School Year in Havana”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 29 October 2020 — How many students will be allowed per classroom? Will all classes be indoors? Will there be a regular supply of water in the bathrooms? Parents’ questions grow a few days before the start of the school year in Havana. There are also many doubts from teachers, who … Continue reading “Within Days of the Start of the New School Year, Cuba’s Parents and Teachers Differ in Their Concerns”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, August 6, 2019 — Enormous lines and annoyance among parents marked this Monday the beginning of the sale of uniforms in the majority of municipalities in the capital. After days of waiting, uncertainty, and misinformation, Plaza de la Revolución, Centro Habana, La Habana Vieja, Regla, La Habana del Este, Guanabacoa, Cerro, and … Continue reading “An Entire Day Dedicated to Buying a School Uniform”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, August 2, 2019 — The store opens at 10:00 AM but the line began forming much earlier in front of La Gloria on La Rosa Street in Havana’s Nuevo Vedado neighborhood. It is August 1 and mothers, fathers and grandmothers have been here since before dawn to make sure they get the most … Continue reading “August Arrives but Not the Uniforms”
Iván García,5 September 2017 — In addition to packing several blouses, underwear and a pair of worn-out jeans the night before travelling to Havana, twenty-six-year-old Magda brought along three homemade cheeses and four kilograms of ground roast coffee. She plans on selling the cheese and coffee. For six years Madga has been teacher at a … Continue reading “Cuba’s School Year: Fewer Teachers, More Expenses for Parents / Iván García”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 August 2017 — These are frantic days. The uniform has to be ready, and a supply of pencils, erasers and pencil sharpeners collected. The school year begins on Monday, and each year the cost of equipping a student for the classroom increases. Cuban families spend nearly an entire month’s average salary … Continue reading “Cuban Families Try to Equip Their Children for the School Year Without Ruining Themselves”
14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Havana, 1 September 2015 – Early Tuesday morning the bell rang for the first morning of the school year in more than 10,300 schools throughout the country. All eyes are now focused on the availability of teachers at the front of the classroom, the material conditions of the schools, and the epidemiological questions … Continue reading “Material Shortages in Schools Hinder the Development of Values / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma”
14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana, 28 August 2015 — Every summer national television calls on us to save electricity, reports the high temperatures and disseminates statements by officials of the Ministry of Education in which they assure us that school uniforms are guaranteed. However, year after year, complaints about deficient supplies and problems with the sizes of … Continue reading “11,000 Stolen Uniforms Are In The Black Market / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 12 August 2015 — The long line snakes outside the bookstore under the scorching August sun. Most are women with children. “They’re selling the thick notebooks,” announces an elderly lady to someone asking who is last on line*. The race is on to buy school supplies, such as backpacks and lunchboxes. … Continue reading “The Race for School Supplies / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
The 2013-2014 school year begun, dragging into this new stage all the deficiencies and errors accumulated during these past 30 years. After swallowing the bitter pill of acquiring uniforms, sending them to be taken in or out, finding another from the son of a friend he no longer needs, in order to have two sets … Continue reading “New School Year, Old Deficiencies / Rebeca Monzo”
The Minister of Education, Ena Elsa Velázquez, is hoping to turn corruption and academic fraud in Cuban schools around. In her tour through several provinces to check on preparations for the new school term beginning on September 2, Velázquez highlighted the “social commitment of teachers and professors” to address illegalities and acts of corruption. She spoke of … Continue reading “The New School Term in Cuba: Teachers Hoping for Raises / Ivan Garcia”