A Cuban journalist identified on Facebook as David Cu shared a photo of new secondary school textbooks, along with a message celebrating that his daughter was starting the school year with all her materials complete, on the day the academic year began in Cuba amidst an unprecedented energy and educational crisis.
In his post, Cu acknowledged "a thousand difficulties, five hundred problems, four hundred limitations," but he presented it as an achievement of the Cuban educational system and stated that "more than a million students" were returning to the classrooms.
He also took the opportunity to question those who "from Miami" denounce the precarious conditions at the start of the school year and asked them, "Why not demand that Marco Rubio and Trump lift the blockade?"
The post sparked an avalanche of responses from other Cubans who described a reality faced by most families on the Island, which is radically different from that of the official spokesperson.
"My son in 4th grade: a book for two, two notebooks, and a pencil," wrote one of the commenters. Another mother pointed out that her daughters did not receive uniforms and that the books were "of poor quality." A third one recounted that her daughter, who is starting first grade, did not receive writing or math notebooks: "They didn't give them, there aren't any."
"You are lucky; my daughter is in fourth grade, and today they gave her the books in a mess. I don’t know how I’m going to fix and cover them, so don’t make me laugh," another one stated.
Several internet users pointed directly to the contrast between the situation of the journalist and that of most Cuban families. "You can clearly see the privilege in some children... 'the son of' already has the new books. Meanwhile, others, the children of any Cuban, either don't have them or have to patch them up," wrote one of the most outspoken commenters.
Another father went further and asked if the girl would also have "24-hour electricity so she can go to school well-rested, a good breakfast and a good snack, and when she gets home, a good meal," directly referring to the energy and food crisis the country is experiencing.
"Blessed is your girl who is going to start with new books, because there are children in classrooms who don't have enough books or notebooks for everyone," summarized another Cuban in response to the journalist.
An additional comment noted that "the Ministry of Education has completely abandoned all its obligations" regarding the supply of materials, and that it is the parents and teachers themselves who repair and equip the schools with their own resources.
The start of the school year in Cuba takes place against a backdrop of a devastating economic and social situation. The Minister of Education, Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto, has admitted that the school year begins under "very difficult" conditions.
The educational system is facing a deficit of at least 24,000 teachers, which is equivalent to 12.5% of the anticipated positions, and only 20% of the students will be able to have new uniforms, as between 2.2 and 2.3 million garments were produced out of the 3.6 million needed.
At the same time, Cuba began the school year with blackouts affecting up to 70% of the national territory, with 11 out of 16 thermoelectric units out of service and a generation deficit of 2,310 MW during peak hours.
In light of this reality, the official discourse characterizes the start of the school year as "another act of heroism", and a leader of the Party in Camagüey even stated that starting classes was "a blow to imperialism."
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