A video posted on Facebook by user Luli Hernandez reveals the neglect of a rural high school known as Sanguilí 1, sparking a wave of reactions among Cubans both on the island and abroad.
In the 49-second clip, Hernandez walks through the facility, uttering only a few words: "There aren't even stairs."
The footage shows empty corridors and a dilapidated infrastructure, a stark contrast to the memories of those who spent their teenage years in such institutions.
The Decline of Rural Boarding Schools
The deterioration of the Institutos Preuniversitarios en el Campo (IPUEC) didn't happen overnight but is the result of decades of decisions by the Cuban regime.
At their peak, Cuba had around 350 IPUEC and 1,400 Basic Secondary Schools in the countryside, where teenagers aged 14 to 18 combined academics with up to 90 days of agricultural work annually.
A Long History of Neglect
The dismantling began in 2009 when the government started phasing out boarding scholarships without providing public explanations. By 2011, the Communist Party's Guide 148 formalized the reduction of boarders, acknowledging that students did not produce enough to justify the model's expenses.
By 2018, most centers had been converted into housing for workers, self-sustaining farms, or left as ghost towns.
Testimonies of Decay
Numerous documented cases of deterioration have surfaced: IPVCE Carlos Marx in Matanzas was reported abandoned in November 2022; the Lenin Vocational School in Havana showed signs of vandalism and invasive vegetation in January 2023; a rural high school in Pinar del Río was turned into a quail farm in July 2023; and a pedagogical branch in Artemisa was found overgrown with weeds in January 2025.
The video from Sanguilí 1 is part of a growing body of testimonies documenting this collapse, stirring nostalgia among those who once considered these spaces integral to their education.
In March 2026, the poem "¿Dónde están, muchachos?" by Cuban poet Ángel Martínez Niubó garnered over 601,000 views on Facebook, reminiscing about the corridors, classrooms, dormitories, and sports fields of the now-ruined IPUEC. The poem ends with a question that resonated with thousands of Cubans: "Tell me where they are, boys, and why am I still here looking for them." A Houston resident responding to the poem captured the collective sentiment with a single phrase: "Everything has been destroyed, it's unbelievable."
Understanding the Collapse of Cuban Educational Institutions
What led to the neglect of the IPUEC in Cuba?
The neglect of the IPUEC in Cuba is a result of decades of decisions by the Cuban regime, including the phasing out of boarding scholarships and the formal reduction of boarders due to insufficient student productivity to justify costs.
When did the dismantling of rural boarding schools in Cuba begin?
The dismantling began in 2009, with gradual elimination of boarding scholarships, and was formalized in 2011 by the Communist Party's Guide 148.
How have former IPUEC facilities been repurposed?
Many former IPUEC facilities have been converted into housing for workers, self-sustaining farms, or left abandoned as ghost towns.