Founded by Fidel Castro in 1968, the VO Thi Thang school is located on the fifth Avenue of the exclusive Miramar neighborhood
Miami.- Last Monday, the Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez He visited the VO Thang Elementary School, located in the Havana Municipality of Playa, where he gave students a symbolic gift: replicas of historical Vietnam sites that he visited during his official trip to that country.
The scene, disseminated by state mediahe sought to reinforce the narrative of the “unwavering” ties between both socialist regimes. But, beyond the diplomatic gesture, the visit once again focused on an old propaganda resource: “Vitrine schools”, with which the government tries to make up the deep deterioration of the Cuban education system.
Founded by Fidel Castro in 1968, the VO Thi That school is located on the fifth avenue of the exclusive Miramar neighborhood, in front of the Russian embassy. For decades, it is one of the most presentable educational centers in the country and a must for foreign delegations visiting Havana.
There they study children of diplomats, officials and managers of foreign companies, which has contributed to keeping it in material conditions far superior to those of the rest of the Cuban schools.
The government itself exhibits it as an example of the alleged “conquests of the revolution” in education. The classrooms are equipped with decent desks, teaching materials in abundance and a modern computer room, donated in 2018 by the then general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong.
However, outside that little showcase, the national educational panorama is another.
Schools without electricity, unusable bathrooms, filtered roofs, lack of books and school supplies are part of the day to day in all provinces of the country. To this is added the lack of teachers. Parents and students have denounced having to take to firewood to cook and a few rice to prepare lunch.
In September 2024, during a previous visit, Vietnam’s first lady, Ngo Phuong Ly, along with Lis costs Peraza and the Minister of Cuban Education, Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto, also attended the VO Thi That to deliver donations and teaching material. That scene, equally disseminated by the official press, repeated the same script: show an impeccable piece of the system, while the reality of most schools remains invisible.
The VO Thi That, together with the “Solidarity with Chile” primary, is part of a circuit of selected institutions to project an image of stability and success. They are carefully maintained scenarios to hide the structural collapse of an education that survives today thanks to the effort of parents and teachers.
Behind the colorful murals and diplomatic gifts, Cuba lives an unprecedented educational crisis. Thousands of teachers have abandoned classrooms or emigrated, students learn with blackouts, without being able to sleep and with a shortage of resources. Meanwhile the dictatorship continues to celebrate symbols that no longer represent reality.
