Faced with a severe shortage of custodians affecting educational institutions in Havana, families of the República del Perú Primary School in the La Lisa district have taken it upon themselves to organize and carry out security duties to ensure the safety of students. This responsibility, ideally, should fall under the Ministry of Education.
The school expressed gratitude to the families through its Facebook profile, praising their cooperative efforts as a demonstration of the educational community's commitment in the face of the custodian crisis. "School principal Leorkis Gómez Romero, along with the leadership team—Kenia Duarte, Yusiley, Yudith, and Yoana Rodríguez Villa—teachers, and staff, are thankful for the families' support in this noble cause to uphold our school despite the lack of custodians," they stated in the post.
While public messages highlight a sense of pride and happiness in supporting the school with the motto "united we are stronger," the situation underscores a concerning reality: the community is compelled to undertake security roles meant for authorities, showcasing a troubling deficiency of resources within the educational system.
Parents are also confronting rising concerns over crime in the school environment with slogans like "Not a chance to thieves! No truce!". In July, a man was arrested following a knife-point robbery at Jorge Arturo Vilaboy Middle School in the Old Havana municipality, further illustrating the insecurity pervasive in Cuba, even within educational settings.
As detailed by Javier Gutiérrez on Facebook, the suspect entered the school and stole two cell phones from the administrator's office, only to be caught upon exiting. Furthermore, the regime's inability to ensure safety in schools is compounded by frequent criticism over inadequate student nutrition.
In 2023, children attending the República de Costa Rica Primary School in the Luyanó neighborhood of Havana were left without lunch following an alleged theft at the facility. A staff member reported that the administration alerted the police after noticing the disappearance of six sacks of rice and an unspecified number of egg cartons.