Children Sent Home Due to Poor Conditions at Camagüey Nursery School

The nursery school "Amiguitos de Martí," located in the Puerto Príncipe neighborhood of Camagüey, sent all its children back home on Tuesday, the first day of the 2026-2027 school year, because the facility failed to meet the basic requirements to commence classes.

Journalist José L. Tan Estrada reported on the Facebook page #TanteandoCuba that families were told to stay at home "until further notice," pending the resolution of the center's issues.

"The school year has started, but there are no classes for these little ones," noted Tan Estrada, describing the situation as yet another example of "the dire conditions in which the school year begins in Camagüey."

This incident is not an isolated case. Camagüey started the new academic year with a shortage of nearly 3,000 teachers, resulting in only 68.7% of teaching positions filled to serve over 95,000 students across 690 schools.

The provincial director of Education acknowledged that the province requires more than 9,500 educators but currently employs only about 6,500.

Struggles Across Early Childhood Education

For early childhood, plans include operating 62 nursery schools and 20 childcare centers in the province, albeit with significant limitations.

At the start of the school year, 52 educational centers lacked certification due to issues with water tanks or reservoirs, school snacks were only assured for 59 schools, and the production of primary school uniforms was progressing at just 12% due to shortages of electricity, fuel, and materials.

National Crisis in Education

The crisis isn't confined to Camagüey. On Tuesday, Education Minister Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto admitted that the school year was starting under "very difficult" conditions, with shortages of uniforms, school supplies, teachers, and challenges maintaining nutrition in classrooms.

Nationwide, the teacher shortage is estimated at 24,000 positions. According to the World Food Programme, 48.5% of Cuban children aged six to 11 do not receive meals or snacks at school.

Reports have surfaced of schools surrounded by trash, debris, overgrown vegetation, and malfunctioning bathrooms. Cuban mothers have warned that they will not send their children to school unless basic necessities such as electricity, potable water, and food are guaranteed, especially amid power outages exceeding 20 hours a day in some areas.

Escalating Educational Collapse

The deterioration is ongoing. In the 2025-2026 school year, Camagüey already faced a shortage of more than 2,000 teachers and achieved a coverage rate of just 75.5%. A year later, the gap has widened further. The situation at "Amiguitos de Martí" starkly illustrates the impact of this collapse on families: children returning home on the first day of classes with no clear return date.