Related videos:
The Municipal Directorate of Education of Cárdenas, in the province of Matanzas, issued an official statement on Facebook this Tuesday to dispel rumors circulating among students, families, and the community regarding a possible early end to the 2025-2026 school year.
The message was clear: "The course ends in July, as dictated by the school calendar. There will be no advancement or extension beyond what is planned."
The educational authorities of Cárdenas acknowledged that the year was marked by challenges, but they insisted that the teaching process did not stop: "Despite the limitations, teaching did not come to a halt."
The statement also urged the teaching staff to conclude the year with dignity: "We call on all teaching staff to achieve a closing that is characterized by quality, responsibility, and love."
The authorities promised to keep the community informed of any future changes: "If there are any other modifications, they will be communicated through various channels."
The announcement comes amid a deep educational crisis affecting Matanzas since the beginning of the school year. The province started in September 2025 with a shortage of over 2,000 teachers, resulting in just 68% educational coverage for more than 98,000 students in over 500 schools.
Since January 2026, a severe fuel crisis has added to those shortages, paralyzing school transportation and forcing the final assessments to be reorganized in Matanzas for more than 90,000 students across 504 educational facilities.
In elementary school, second and fourth grades eliminated the verification exercise, while fifth and sixth grades replaced the final exams with practical assignments or systematic evaluations.
The situation is not exclusive to Matanzas. In Pinar del Río, final exams were suspended in primary schools due to the energy crisis, and in Sancti Spíritus, EIDE students had to arrive “on their own due to the paralysis of public transportation.
At the national level, the Ministry of Education began the 2025-2026 academic year with a deficit of approximately 24,000 teachers, equivalent to 12.5% of the needed positions, driven by massive emigration and salaries ranging from four thousand to 9,400 Cuban pesos per month—between eight and twenty dollars at the informal exchange rate.
Despite the widespread collapse, the regime requested schools to continue the academic calendar with flexible measures such as classes without uniforms, adjusted schedules, and hybrid attendance.
It is in this context of uncertainty—marked by constant changes in evaluations, class suspensions, and halted transportation—that rumors about a possible early end to the school year in Cárdenas emerged, which the municipal authorities publicly denied. The statement concludes with a promise that if there are any modifications to the calendar, the community will be informed "through various channels."
Filed under: