2023-10-02 17:34:04
Caracas — Venezuelan public schools formalized the start of the new school year this Monday, October 2, with one and a half million children and young people out of the classrooms and a salary drop of at least 80%.
School dropouts have been portrayed by the Living Conditions Survey of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, with an estimate that it could increase in 2023. Teachers have sought to ally themselves to avoid it, but they must also face the loss of their purchasing power, with a average salary of US$26.09 per month.
“Have faith, have hope, that we will continue walking the path of benefit,” said Yelitze Santaella, the Minister of Education of the Nicolás Maduro administration in an interview last Friday, in which she ruled out an upcoming adjustment in teachers’ salaries. , attributed to the current economic conditions in Venezuela.
The Chavismo official assured that the authorities are debating the demands of the teaching union, which has led the main labor protests since January. In the middle of that month, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez promised that a response would be given in the following hours, and to date no changes have been made.
For 18 months, the Venezuelan government has not published adjustments to the minimum income of Venezuelan workers, which currently stands at less than US$4 per month, which represents a decline of 87%. Instead, it has promoted the allocation of social bonuses that have no salary impact.
The Center for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers reported last month that a Venezuelan teacher would need the equivalent of 19.24 times their minimum wage to be able to afford a basic family basket, which during August closed at US$491.
The president of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, Carmen Teresa Márquez, has also denounced that 60% of the schools are not in conditions to start classes, and that more than 1,000 centers do not have regular electricity service or drinking water.
Delcy Rodríguez assured that the Venezuelan government’s effort aimed to guarantee school supplies, uniforms, footwear and study books, through the fairs organized by the Executive. However, representatives registered an amount of US$50 for each child to cover the list.
“Venezuelan education is in emergency,” shared educator Luisa Pernalete, coordinator of Education for Peace of Fe y Alegría on her social networks. “There are more problems, but the ones we have mentioned, which we carried over from last year, are enough to know that we cannot save education alone.”
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