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Nearly 1.4 Million Students Return September 1 Under Staffing Fix

8/28/2026

25 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Education Minister Naima Trujillo announced that nearly 1.4 million children will return to school on September 1.
Teacher coverage fell to 73 percent.
The ministry hired university students, professionals and retirees to fill gaps.
About 3,000 teachers were transferred from eastern provinces to Havana province.
Emergency shelters opened under the Code for Children to protect vulnerable minors as the school year begins.

History

Historical Context

In April 1961 Fidel Castro launched Cuba’s eight-month National Literacy Campaign, deploying roughly one million volunteers and teaching about 707,000 adults, raising literacy to 96 percent by year-end. UNESCO hailed the effort, and the model of mass volunteer mobilization now guides the Ministry of Education’s 2024 drive, which again recruits students, retirees and thousands of teachers to close a 73 percent coverage gap.

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Story summary

Education Minister Naima Trujillo announced that nearly 1.4 million children will return to school on September 1.
Teacher coverage fell to 73 percent.
The ministry hired university students, professionals and retirees to fill gaps.
About 3,000 teachers were transferred from eastern provinces to Havana province.
Emergency shelters opened under the Code for Children to protect vulnerable minors as the school year begins.

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