00:00In Cuba, over a million students go back to school this Tuesday, September 1st, in what
00:05constitutes an achievement of the nation's educational system amid the ongoing United
00:10States suppression.
00:11From Havana, our correspondent Belén de los Santos has more.
00:17Hello, how are you here from Havana, it is the beginning of a new school year in such
00:24a particular time and I think that we really need to understand the beginning of this new
00:28school year.
00:291.4 million students are coming back to classes in the context of the most brutal aggression
00:36from the United States against the island.
00:392026 has been a year marked by these aggressions since the imposing of the total oil blockade
00:45on January 29th and the effects that has had in the entire Cuban economy and society and
00:53this population in particular, in general and particularly in the education sector.
00:59We are talking not only about longer and extensive blackouts for the schools themselves but also
01:07less energy to cook for the students, less energy to produce uniforms for the students,
01:13less fuel for transportation for the students and teachers, everything that is attacking the
01:21possibility of maintaining that right to education in the face of those ongoing aggressions that
01:27are maintained until today and that have been going on, of course, for over six decades but
01:33with particular aggression in this year for over seven months since the imposing of that oil
01:40blockade in particular, in that context, the decision of Cuba, the determination is to continue
01:48protecting that right to education for those 1.4 million students.
01:54We are talking about the general education.
01:57There are starting classes today, September 1st.
02:00In the initial act, the Minister of Education, Naima Trujillo, spoke and she was highlighting more
02:05about other things, the importance of understanding this year and the key ideas of flexibility and also
02:14the possibility of coming up with local-based solutions.
02:18So, understanding the, of course, immense difficulties at a local level, thinking about how they can
02:24be solved in each territory depending on each condition and possibility.
02:30So, we are talking about the flexibilization, for example, of the use of uniforms because the
02:36production has been, has been hindered because of the energy shortage imposed by the oil
02:42blockade.
02:43And while that production continues and is seeking to reach every last student, of course,
02:48this is not going to stop the possibility of them going to classes.
02:54So, of course, schools are going to allow students to come in wearing comfortable clothes that
03:00they can attend with in order to continue their education process.
03:06So, that is just one image to understand how Cuba is going out different strategies in order
03:13to maintaining, protecting that right to education that has always been such a high value for the
03:21overall project here in Cuba.
03:24So, again, we are talking about solutions of thought at a territorial level, the relocating
03:30of teachers, the going out and reaching out to retrovis, to professionals, to university
03:37students also, to join in the, in the teaching capacity and the teaching staff because, of course,
03:43teachers have also been one of the most practical sectors in terms of the overall impact on
03:50the economy that this harsh year has had in Cuba.
03:54So, all of these are different resources in order to continue strengthening this key area
04:01that is education, particularly in Cuba.
04:03And you are seeing that at the beginning of this whole year.
04:06This is from Havana.
04:08But, of course, in the old country and the whole island, it's the same image.
04:13The image of children going back to classes amid the most intense aggressions because education
04:19is protected for you, of course.
04:21I go back to you now.
