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The Cuban government announced this Tuesday the cancellation of the entrance exams for higher education for the 2026-2027 academic year.
The Minister of Education, Naima Trujillo Barreto, and the Minister of Higher Education, Walter Baluja García, appeared on the television program Mesa Redonda to provide information on the adjustments planned for the final stage of the school year.
According to the information provided, the university admission process will be based on the average or cumulative academic index of pre-university students throughout their educational journey.
"The admission process will be based on the average or academic index that pre-university students have achieved throughout their studies," the authorities specified.
The granting of degrees will be carried out using the form filled out by the students themselves, in the same way as in previous years.
The authorities assured that all students have a guaranteed spot: "They have their spot guaranteed; the allocation process will determine which spot it will be."
The announcement represents a complete turnaround from what the government had promised just two months ago.
In March, the Ministry of Higher Education confirmed that the exams would take place nationwide on scheduled dates: June 5 (Mathematics), June 9 (Spanish), and June 12 (Cuban History), which already represented a one-month delay from the original May schedule.
In that appearance in March, the Minister of Education stated that "nobody has come up with the idea of saying, let's suspend the school year" and that "the school year will continue and will finish in July."
The authorities also acknowledged this Tuesday that higher education is facing serious problems in the final stretch of the academic year.
"They admitted that there have been issues with students' connectivity and transportation for academic activities."
Students in their final years have been prioritized, with graduations taking place for over a month now.
It is expected that in the first half of July, most of the Cuban university students will complete the academic year.
Special education will conclude in May, while the early childhood centers will adjust according to the situation in each territory.
The training schools of INDER and Culture have advanced their closure.
Educational institutions remain open for activities and collective information.
This is not the first time that Cuba has suspended entrance exams: during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a similar mechanism for access based on academic records was implemented.
The crisis of the 2025-2026 school year has also manifested in the suspension of final exams in primary schools in Pinar del Río and in changes to the school calendar in Matanzas, demonstrating the progressive deterioration of the educational system under 67 years of dictatorship.
The Cuban government attributes all these difficulties to the policies of the United States government, without acknowledging the responsibility of internal management in the collapse of the system.
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