Cuba readies to kick off school year despite scant supplies

Cuba will kick off the school year next week as planned despite a severe ongoing crisis that has affected transportation and electricity and led to falling

teacher numbers and a lack of supplies such as uniforms.



Nearly 1.4 million children and adolescents will head back to school at the start of September, said the island's education minister on Thursday.



"Cuba's educators are aware of the extraordinary impacts of the collective asphyxiation we are suffering ... so this will be a school year whose greatest victory will be that we are able to carry it out at all," said Education Minister Naima Trujillo.



The crisis has worsened since June, when students were released early from school for the summer break as transportation and electricity faltered amid stiffened sanctions by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.