Cuba's schools reopen as families cope with fuel, food and power shortages

LAS MINAS, Cuba — The Barroso family began their Tuesday before dawn, hitching a cart to a borrowed horse to take one of their daughters to school. It was the first day of classes for many students across Cuba, but the journey was far from routine. The family's own horse was recently stolen and killed for food, and school buses are not running due to the island's severe fuel shortage.

More than 10,000 schools are expected to open their doors this week, welcoming an estimated 1.4 million children and over 135,000 teachers. However, the start of the academic year is shadowed by persistent crises. The education minister acknowledged the immense challenges, describing the reopening as a "heroic act" for a nation whose free, universal education system was once a hallmark of the 1959 revolution.

The previous school year was cut short in June, a month early, as conditions worsened. The island continues to grapple with daily power outages that can last over 20 hours, water scarcity, and fuel shortages, all compounded by the long-standing U.S. oil embargo.

Leanete Barroso, a mother of two, called the past academic year "the most disastrous one." Teacher coverage has fallen to 73 percent nationwide, prompting the government to deploy more than 3,000 teachers from eastern provinces to Havana. The vacancies are attributed to low salaries and emigration. Education Minister Naima Trujillo Barreto has appealed to university students, professionals, and retirees to help fill the gaps, saying, "Everyone is invited — anyone who has something to contribute."

Parents are also being asked to help provide school meals, with some schools reporting only a 15-day supply of food. School uniforms are largely unavailable, meeting just 12 percent of demand at the primary level. Trujillo Barreto explained that workshops cannot operate without electricity and fabric cannot be transported without fuel. Students will be allowed to wear comfortable clothing but must still wear their traditional red and blue kerchiefs.

For parents like Yurima Izaguirre, the shortages are a daily struggle. She found that her 7-year-old daughter had nearly outgrown last year's burgundy skirt, but no new uniforms were available. With the cost of goods surging, she could not afford new shoes and, for the first time, had to buy school supplies herself. She also worries about providing lunch for her three children each day, planning meals of pasta, tuna, and mayonnaise that "has to last."

Izaguirre has packed small, rechargeable fans for her children, labeled with their names, to help them cope with classroom temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. They recharge the fans at a neighbor's home due to the frequent power cuts. With no fuel for transportation, the family's usual trips to the beach or zoo are impossible, so she organizes picnics under a tree near their home. Despite the hardships, she says her children give her emotional strength: "In my head, I think of doing 1,000 things, but I have to keep going for their sake."