School year resumes in Holguín after Hurricane Melissa

With the reopening of daycare centers, semi-boarding schools, and schools that were not affected by the passage of the Hurricane Melissa through eastern Cuba, the 2025-2026 school year resumes this Wednesday in the province of Holguín.

By decision of the Provincial Defense Council (CDP) and after evaluating the conditions of Holguín's educational institutions, teaching activities will resume gradually at all educational levels and demarcations starting the next day, Luis Felipe Batista Rodríguez, general director of Education in the territory, informed ACN.

A total of 50 semi-boarding schools and 31 daycare centers, with the corresponding Public Health certification due to requirements for the care of young children, will reopen first and support the return to work of more than 14,000 mothers.

More than 700 schools, both rural and urban, suffered no damage and will resume their work without setbacks. These will be joined by institutions linked to arts and sports, which are in good condition and will resume classes next Monday with semi-boarding and external students.

In the case of schools that operate in double sessions—such as secondary schools, pre-university, and technical and professional education—and which involve greater resource management, a complementary schedule with a single session will be implemented.

The most complicated situation is reported in the municipality of Sagua de Tánamo, with about 10 total collapses in buildings located in hard-to-reach areas, and in Cacocum, where another collapse was recorded.

Batista Rodríguez explained that, of the 54 boarding schools in the territory, 12 are still functioning as active isolation centers, so they will be the last to rejoin the teaching process, as they require a period of sanitization and complex logistics of resources and transport before reopening.

Among the daycare centers resuming activities in the main municipality are "Sonrisas del Futuro," "Alegres Constructores," "Futuros Internacionalistas," "Ismaelillo," "Mario Pozo," "Soldaditos de la Patria," "Pequeños Combatientes," "Pelusín," "Pequeño Volodia," and "Somos Felices."

Holguín, with the most extensive school network in the country, composed of more than 1,200 centers, reported 360 schools with partial damage after Hurricane Melissa, a category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and is working on reorganization to guarantee the vitality of the teaching process. (Source: ACN)