In the midst of the serious transportation crisis on the island, the Universidad de Oriente (UO), based in Santiago de Cuba, announced that the first term of the 2026-2027 academic year will take place in a decentralized manner, with each student linked to the training scenarios in their municipality of residence, instead of attending the central campus.
According to the institution, the Municipal University Centers (CUM), the university facilities in provincial capitals, workplaces, and popular councils will be the spaces where teaching will take place, "in a hybrid and remote format."
The Day and Distance Courses will begin on September 1st. On that day, first to fourth year students of the Day Course (CD) must arrive at their respective faculties, CUM, or central campuses of other universities by 9:00 a.m. for initial orientation.
The Course by Meetings (CPE) will begin on Saturday, September 6, at 9:00 a.m. in faculties and CUM, with attendance reduced to once a month for this new term.
The measure is not new for the institution. Since mid-February 2026, UO had already adopted a semi-faceto face emergency modality, closing its student residence except for exceptions for foreign students or those with specific needs.
During the second term of the 2025-2026 academic year, that modality was in effect from March 2 until the end of the academic year on June 27.
The University of the East is not an isolated case. The fuel crisis forcing the regime to limit in-person university attendance affects the entire Cuban higher education system.
The students had also stated that if they had to pay for transportation to the university, they wouldn’t have any money left for food.
The Ministry of Education confirmed that the 2026-2027 academic year will begin on September 1 at all universities in the country, offering hybrid and distance learning formats, dependent on the availability of fuel and resources in each region.
The University of Havana also switched to a hybrid format in February 2026 for the same reason, in a trend that reflects the structural deterioration of the Cuban educational system following decades of accumulated crisis.
The regime has also exceptionally suspended the university entrance exams for the 2026-2027 academic year and replaced them with an allocation system based on the cumulative academic index from pre-university, another unprecedented measure that highlights the challenges in maintaining the normal functioning of educational institutions on the island.
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