Massive failure in Guantánamo: More than half of students fail the Math entrance exam

With less than half of the students passing, the results of the exam for Mathematics for admission to Higher Education in Guantánamo confirm that the crisis the country is experiencing has also reached the educational system.

What was once a demanding yet attainable goal has now become an insurmountable barrier for hundreds of young people, amidst a national landscape marked by institutional deterioration, a lack of teachers, and a neglect of education.

However, to that equation, we must add the motivational factor, as the regime previously announced that it would allow access to university degrees and higher technical programs even for those who fail or do not attend the exams.

According to the official newspaper Granma, the entrance exams for the 2025-2026 school year were scheduled to take place on May 6, 9, and 13 for Mathematics, Spanish, and History, respectively. However, the expectation of available slots for those who do not pass had already been announced, undermining the competitive nature of the process and further eroding the culture of academic effort.

The Doctor of Economic Sciences and Tenured Professor at the University of Guantánamo, Javier Pérez Capdevila, conducted a critical analysis on his Facebook profile, where he attributed the massive failure not only to the structural deterioration of the educational system but also to the extreme conditions under which the exam was conducted.

With a promotion rate of only 47.2%, Pérez Capdevila warned that this result is not just an alarming figure, but a symptom of a deeper crisis affecting mental health, academic performance, and equity in the process.

According to their analysis, the frequent power outages in the days leading up to the exam hindered many students' ability to prepare adequately, and the physical conditions during the test, with stifling heat and unlit classrooms, undermined any real chance of demonstrating knowledge.

From an educational psychology perspective, it was explained that chronic stress caused by energy uncertainty raises cortisol levels and affects memory, while fatigue resulting from blackouts impacts overall cognitive functioning.

He also criticized the pedagogical aspect of the process: an exam cannot be considered valid if what it measures is not knowledge, but the ability to endure heat and darkness.

The expert also referred to school hygiene, reminding that international standards establish minimum conditions for temperature, ventilation, and lighting that were clearly not met in Guantánamo, which, in his view, makes the process more akin to punishment than to assessment.

Finally, he proposed that the possibility of retaking the exam be considered as a measure of fairness and technical rigor, rather than as a "favor."

Repeating it would not be, in his words, "giving out passes," but rather correcting a structural error that distorted the evaluation process.

“No young person should be judged by their ability to endure dark, suffocating classrooms, but rather by what they truly know,” he concluded.

However, these results are not the result of coincidence or an isolated fact. By 2024, clear signs of educational deterioration were already evident in other provinces of the country.

In Ciego de Ávila, for example, the pre-university students who took the entrance exams for Higher Education performed critically on the Cuban History exam: only 65.01% passed, according to data published by the state newspaper Invasor.

Out of approximately 500 students examined, more than a third did not achieve the minimum passing grade, highlighting that the educational collapse is progressive, sustained, and structural.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Massive Failure in the Mathematics Exam in Guantánamo