"I don’t see a future. I’m doing this to meet my parents’ expectations. In itself, I chose this career because I enjoy it, but there’s no future here." With that phrase, a young Cuban summarizes the mood of an entire generation.
A video published this Wednesday by DDC, the channel of Diario de Cuba, features testimonies from students describing an教育 system in collapse and a youth without prospects.
The young interviewees report facing blackouts of up to 22 hours a day, which prevent them from studying and sleeping, a virtually non-existent school transportation system, and a chronic shortage of teachers.
"The blackouts practically prevent you from studying, let alone sleeping well. You have to go tired and sleepy to a test, a control assignment," says one of the students.
Another describes how classes are sent via mobile phone, but without electricity to charge it, that's not possible either: "Sometimes the classes are sent through the same phone, and we can't study, and the other day we have to take our evaluations."
Food is another critical issue. "Some students don't eat anything, they go hungry, or they have to go home for lunch, and some live very far away. They get a meal in the cafeteria, but it doesn't satisfy you," recounts one of the voices in the video.
Transportation exacerbates everything. Many rely on their parents or grandparents to take them, and those living in rural areas have even fewer options.
A technical student in electricity reports that he receives a stipend of 200 Cuban pesos —less than half a dollar at the informal exchange rate— which is insufficient to cover his daily commute.
Disillusionment is not only with material conditions but also with the prospects that a university degree offers.
"Many people who were meant to achieve something great, doctors for example, are working in small and medium-sized enterprises, and everyone says the same thing: 'Why should I study if I'm going to end up working in a small business?'" notes another young person.
That scenario has a real basis. The regime suspended the university entrance exams for the 2026-2027 academic year and moved up the end of the school year to the period from June 15 to June 30 due to the energy crisis and lack of fuel.
The 2025-2026 school year started with a deficit of approximately 24,000 teachers nationwide, which is equivalent to 12.5% of the required positions, with salaries ranging from eight to twenty dollars per month at the informal exchange rate.
The exodus of professionals is unstoppable. Cuba lost more than 30,000 doctors between 2021 and 2024, and the dilemma of who will rebuild the country is becoming increasingly urgent.
Approximately 545,000 Cubans emigrated in 2025 alone, with the predominant age range being 20 to 40 years, and 93% of the young people who remain on the island wish to leave if they could.
The students themselves acknowledge it: "People who have the ability to leave the country definitely have many more opportunities to grow and have the career they want."
The video concludes with a demand that encapsulates the frustration of an entire generation: "A total change of everything, both economic and political, everything. A general change."
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