Cuban History Exam Scores Plummet in Ciego de Ávila University Admissions Test

Students from pre-university education in Ciego de Ávila who took the entrance exams for higher education had their worst results in the Cuban History test, according to figures provided by officials from that territory. In this central Cuban province, approximately 500 students took the exam, and only 65.01 percent managed to pass the test that measures knowledge of Cuban history, according to a report by the official newspaper Invasor.

In contrast, Mathematics saw a 69.38 percent pass rate, a figure that authorities say represents an increase of approximately 10 percentage points compared to the previous year, though it remains low. The best results were in Spanish-Literature, where 97.42 percent of students passed (almost the same as in 2023), Invasor noted.

A total of 259 students from Ciego de Ávila managed to pass all three higher education entrance exams, representing 55.46 percent of those tested. Although Invasor's report did not mention the causes of such a significant decline in the Cuban History subject, Vivian Rodríguez González, head of the Pre-University Department in the Provincial Directorate of Education, assured that "a strategy to improve the higher education entrance process is being redesigned to elevate results in future exams, ensure curriculum adherence, and strengthen the preparation of teachers, students, and their families."

Rodríguez González stated that they are "convinced that success in this task is related to discipline, personal example, will, and the correct selection of the workforce, and we will fight for better results in the coming course." This is not the first time that questionable results have been obtained in the Cuban history knowledge test. In 2022, following the exam's poor performance, the same official media outlet argued that the poor results were due to "the quality of classes and teacher coverage throughout the pre-university phase being the main factors."

A teacher from the territory said at the time that "this year's results were alarming and a sign that something was not right." The conditions continue to persist in Ciego de Ávila.

The higher education entrance exams began on May 7 with Mathematics, followed by Spanish-Literature on May 10, and Cuban History on May 14. Additionally, a special session was held for each subject for students who missed the regular exam due to justified reasons.

This year, the Cuban government offered its students more than 104,000 university places, according to Martha del Carmen Mesa Valenciano, president of the Education, Culture, Science, Technology, and Environment Commission of the Cuban Parliament.

In the 2023 results, almost half of the students who took the university entrance exams nationwide failed. René Sánchez Díaz, Director of Admissions and Job Placement at the Ministry of Education of Cuba, said that out of the 21,942 applicants, only 50.4% (11,063) passed all three exams, marking an 8.9 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year.

Despite these results, the Ministry of Higher Education announced a few weeks ago that it will maintain the same schedule for the distribution of university courses this year, including those who failed or did not even take the entrance exams. The entity disclosed this through its Facebook page, mentioning that "there are careers and higher technicians for all young people who wish to enter the university."