Every start of the school year in Cuba is a shared celebration experienced in the morning hustle and bustle of homes, in the colorful streets, in the joyful bustle of schools, and in the photos that, in recent times, overflow the digital networks.
This November 28 could not be different. The whole island dawned ready to receive in 10,931 educational institutions more than 1,740,000 students who for the first time, or as part of their continuing studies, went to the encounter with knowledge.
In each of those classrooms that opened their doors for the 2022-2023 school year, is the future of a nation that continues to defend, by overcoming obstacles, the right of its children and young people to a full and free education.
However, this will of the country is faced with many challenges. It is known that, in spite of the high financial amounts that the State budget allocates to the educational system, there are economic and material limitations that cannot be solved at a stroke of a pen, and demand a greater effort from teachers, parents and students.
Some students will share textbooks and others will have the blackboard temporarily in a house or company because a devastating cyclone took away their little school; but no student in Cuba will lack the teaching staff necessary to learn to read, to know history, to unravel complex mathematics, or to train as artists, technicians, athletes, doctors, among other specialties.
With that certainty, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, wrote on Twitter: " It is a day of victory and happiness for Cuba. The school year begins and the classrooms are filled with children and young people to the satisfaction of an entire people. We woke up in Pinar del Rio, in a school devastated by the hurricane and reopened its doors. Therein lies our creative resistance.”
From now on, students will continue filling their backpacks with joy, determination, confidence and new learning.
