Cuba to resume school year in September virtually

Cuba will resume the 2020-2021 school year on September 6, through televised teaching activities, Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez announced.

After a meeting Monday with President Miguel Díaz-Canel to discuss details of this process, Velázquez told the press that in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health, it was decided that students will carry out face-to-face teaching activities as soon as they are vaccinated.

This evaluation with the health authorities was carried out after an extensive tour throughout the country, and authorities took the criteria and concerns of Cuban families into consideration, she said.

She also assured that information will be provided this week on the content of the televised teaching activities.

Velazquez added that the vaccination was organized in three groups, starting with students in twelfth grade (last year of high school), third and fourth year of pedagogical training, and third year of technical and professional education.

The second group includes students between the ages of 12 and 18, including the rest of the students in the pedagogical training, technical and basic secondary education, and those in the sixth grade (elementary school), even if they have not yet reached the age of 12.

The third group is made up of primary education students from preschool through fifth grade.