The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stepped up daily monitoring of the situation in Cuba as blackouts disrupt internet access and online learning for Jamaican students, who are now being urged to consider returning home before potential flight suspensions make travel more difficult.

Speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said the Government was growing increasingly concerned about the welfare of more than 300 Jamaicans studying across Cuba, many of whom have seen classes suspended or moved online with limited connectivity.

She explained that the island’s fuel shortages were triggering “frequent, lengthy and unpredictable electricity interruptions”, affecting not only education but also access to food, medical supplies and transportation.

According to the minister, 44 Jamaican students are enrolled under the Cuba/Jamaica Scholarship Programme, while another 256 are privately funded, and so far, at least 13 privately funded students have already returned home.

“Over the past few weeks, some of our students have been reaching out and have advised that their institutions have either closed for a period, in one case for four weeks, others that classes have been suspended in favour of virtual studies, which, of course, have challenges with internet and electricity,” Johnson Smith said.

To maintain direct contact, Smith noted the ministry has created a WhatsApp group linking roughly 320 students with officials in Kingston and the Jamaican Embassy in Havana, a move that has allowed the Government to register many privately funded students who were previously outside formal channels.

“This is important because although we are always aware of the scholarship students who travel, the private students don’t usually engage with the ministry. So now we have a full registration, a full awareness of the student body that is present,” the minister noted.

She also noted that the embassy has written to Cuban authorities seeking clarity on whether transcripts would be made available to students who may need to continue their studies elsewhere, should disruptions persist.

“The embassy also took the further step of dispatching a diplomatic note to the foreign ministry in Cuba, seeking assistance, or rather guidance, in ascertaining how best students could be facilitated in the circumstances, including whether transcripts will be made available,” she explained.

Smith added that an official response from the Cuban embassy is still pending, however, informal guidance has suggested that students must engage their individual institutions directly.

Compounding the uncertainty, Johnson Smith warned that international travel to Cuba could soon become more difficult following notifications to the aviation sector about a suspension of jet fuel supplies.

“Travel to Cuba is likely to be interrupted… Air Canada, as one international carrier, has indicated that it is suspending flights to Cuba, so that international travel may become more difficult,” she said.

Against that backdrop, students are being encouraged to consult their families and institutions and to prepare for emergency departure if necessary.

Cabinet has begun considering what support might be offered to scholarship students should their programmes be disrupted for a prolonged period, while officials are exploring whether local tertiary institutions could assist privately funded students seeking to transfer.

“We continue to monitor the situation, however, and we continue to be in touch with our students in this regard, and to keep the avenue of communication open,” Johnson Smith assured.