Havana, August 31 (RHC)-- Cuban Education Minister Ena Elsa Velázquez confirmed Tuesday that more than 1.697 million students will return to the classroom on September 5 to resume the 2021-2022 school year after the summer vacation.

According to the minister, professors, teachers, and workers of the nation's 10,793 educational centers are preparing the premises to give a pleasant welcome to the students on that day.

In a press conference with national and foreign media, Velázquez explained that the current school term will end in mid-November to start the 2022-2023 school year, which will end in July next year.

She affirmed that the necessary hygienic-sanitary measures are being taken to prevent the spread in schools of diseases such as Covid-19 and dengue. At the same time, the study material base is being prepared, and teacher training continues.

56.2 percent of the students already have the booster dose of the national vaccines against Covid-19, and the immunization will continue in September until all of them are covered.

Likewise, she pointed out that 97 percent of the teaching coverage is assured, and the rest will be covered with the contribution of students in the final years of the 29 existing pedagogical schools in the country and the support of the universities.

Velázquez recalled that education is a priority for Cuba, which is why the State allocates 25 percent of its budget to this area and affirmed that the country has a human capital that allows facing the shortages imposed by the complex economic situation derived from the tightening of the U.S. blockade.