A report by Reuters filed from Havana on Friday vividly describes the experiences of the 44 blind or visually impaired students at the Abel Santamaría Special School, located in Ciudad Libertad: when power outages—often exceeding 18 hours a day in the Cuban capital—darken the classrooms, teachers move the children next to the windows or take classes to courtyards and hallways to make use of natural light.
That makeshift resource is essential for those with residual vision, but it is not enough to compensate for what is lacking: Braille paper, glasses, magnifiers, and Braille typewriters in working condition.
The fuel shortage also forced a reduction in attendance to four days a week, from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, students do exercises at home.
"Receiving instruction from a family member at home is not the same as in person, with prepared teachers," warned the director of the center, Suramis Rodríguez, in statements reported by the agency.
The report humanizes the crisis through the teacher Yarnelys Bec Abalela, a former student of the very institution: she arrived at the age of three due to a congenital cataract, completed up to ninth grade, pursued a higher program in special education, and has been teaching at the same school for 21 years.
"Thanks to what I learned at this center, I was able to become a teacher," said Bec, who currently works as a fifth-grade teacher and therapist.
Despite the circumstances described, he does not abandon his vocation: "In the midst of this situation, this still remains the best place to provide these children with the tools they need for their lives."
The problem is not limited to Abel Santamaría. Thousands of special education students across the country are suffering from a lack of fuel, electricity, and transportation. According to official figures cited by Reuters, Cuba has 330 special schools in operation, although the Ministry of Education's portal lists a total of 357 centers with more than 35,000 students — a discrepancy that no independent source can verify.
A Cuban report covering the period from March 2025 to February 2026 indicates that 21 Braille typewriters are irreparable nationwide, while the estimated need is for 63 devices. This situation affects the study conditions of 126 blind students. Braille printers, on the other hand, are only available in three regional centers across the country.
The Reuters report arrives amid an unprecedented educational crisis: the 2026-2027 school year began on September 1 with nearly 24,000 teaching positions unfilled —12.5% of the total— and more than 380,000 students without an assigned primary teacher.
In mid-October, the Minister of Education Naima Trujillo Barreto acknowledged that about 11,000 students were not attending classes regularly. In Las Tunas, more than 800 teachers were still absent this Saturday, with no solution in sight.
The contrast between that image and the official narrative portraying Cuba as an "educational powerhouse" is what the international press is now capturing, highlighting names, faces, and dark classrooms.
The previous course had to close earlier than expected: special education schools closed in May 2026, while the rest of the education concluded between June 15 and June 30, which was an early sign of the collapse that Reuters is documenting today from inside a dark classroom.
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