Cuba's education sector is facing an unprecedentedly severe test due to the energy crisis stemming from U.S. restrictions.
At a public secondary school with more than 900 students in downtown Havana, energy shortages and frequent power outages have forced the school authorities to cancel some courses as well as all schooling hours in the afternoon.
"Because of power outages, physics labs where electrical experiments were conducted, chemistry labs and computer science labs are not functioning, so our study has to stay at the theoretical level. This has affected the students' practices and learning outcomes," said a student named Jorge Carrazana.
While the school has to reschedule classes based on the teachers' travel distances from their residences, the lack of fuel is also disrupting commuting of many students, who thus are not able to reach school on time.
School authorities is encouraging more communications between teachers and students to cover all basic schooling contents, and the teachers are designing new ways to present the courses with as little electricity as possible.
"Although the school's education process is not entirely normal, we are still persisting in advancing it. Though being carried out under very difficult circumstances, education hasn't stopped. Despite numerous difficulties, the students are still happy, full of motivation and eager to continue their studies to be able to take the college entrance examination," said Zaida Lopez, a teacher of the school.
According to data from UNESCO on February 18, fuel shortages have made it necessary to implement temporary adjustments such as blended learning modalities and the reorganization of schedules, affecting more than one million students in Cuba.
Cuba's education sector under unprecedented test due to energy crisis amid U.S. restrictions
