- Nelson González, president of Fetramagisterio, recently reported that the modality is being applied in several educational institutions in the country. Photo: José Daniel Ramos @danielj2511
The Venezuelan teachers’ union warned about a modality called “mosaic schedule” that some educational institutions in the country are applying, which could have serious consequences. This measure is based on teachers giving classes only two days a week so that they dedicate the rest to work activities that allow them to supplement their income.
Since the beginning of 2023, retired teachers and staff have protested throughout the country to demand that the State honor their requests for salary improvements and the signing of the collective agreement. Currently, salaries in the sector do not exceed 30 dollars.
Although to date there is no official information on the reduction of the teachers’ work week to two days, the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM) denounced on March 16, 2023 that some heads of zones and directors in the states of Mérida, Delta Amacuro and the Capital District have proposed that education professionals attend classrooms only two days a week, due to the protests that have been organized in the country.
“We disagre. The Venezuelan teachers are demanding what belongs to them: decent wages. Now it is the zone heads themselves and the same supervisors who are proposing to the teachers that they work two days and give the boys homework. We know that they are doing it in some states,” Carmen Teresa Márquez, president of the FVM, told the news outlet. firewood effect.
Guild Statements
At the beginning of February, Nancy Hérnandez, president of the National Federation of Parents and Representatives Societies (Fenasopadres), warned that teachers were absent from classes due to the need to generate other income.
This has been happening for a long time before the pandemic, because there are no teachers, there are no conditions in the schools and the teachers have agreed with the representatives,” Hernández pointed out.
On March 7, 2023, Nelson González, president of Fetramagisterio, specified that the Nicolás Maduro regime proposed reducing the working day to two days so that educators could look for other trades in their free time.
“The teacher is told: teach two days and three you rummage around, or more elegantly, set up your business so you can avoid being starved to death,” he asserted at a press conference.
For her part, trade unionist Elsa Castillo stressed that the mosaic schedule “is nothing more than a scoundrel” because it affects the quality of education and intends not to solve the salary problem of educators.
In this sense, the representatives of the union pointed out that the main thing is to increase the educational quality, not to seek a way out or “lukewarm cloths” to the conflicts that are currently going through.
During a protest organized in downtown Caracas on March 13, union representatives rejected the mosaic schedule and denounced that the Minister of Education, Yelitze Santaella, refuses to negotiate with the teachers.
States where mosaic time has been implemented
In interview for the verification portal Sponge, Nelson González explained that although the directors were given a circular in meetings of the zone heads, there is no physical proof that they (the Ministry of Education) are giving that instruction.
“We have detected it in many educational areas (…) But there is nothing written. There is nothing formal. Yes, we have already detected eight states where it happened. In this case, it is assuming it as a State policy,” he explained.
He argued that in Zulia, Lara, Aragua and in Caracas there are at least 15 institutions that implement the mosaic schedule, just as it was proposed in the states of Sucre, Mérida and Barinas.
Rejection by the union
Professor Enson Torres indicated to Radio Fe y Alegría News that despite the regime’s call for teachers to work with a mosaic schedule and attend classes for two days, they will continue in their fight for their labor rights.
“We remain on a conflicting agenda, which is the College of Teachers, the College of Graduates in Education, the Federation of Unionized Education Workers, the UPEL Teachers Association and other allied unions such as health and electricity that have been supporting our proposal for salary and labor improvements”, he explained.
He added that it is not possible to talk about two days of classes because what they need is a fair salary. In this sense, he pointed out that a call was made not to comply with the new modality because they will not be “in a slavery center or continue saving the” regime “.
For their part, the teachers in the state of Aragua reiterated that the sector did not ask for a reduction in the working day, but for the dignification of their salary that allows them to have quality of life in the country.
“Again, educators find ourselves on the street. The Venezuelan teachers at no time asked for a reduction in working hours, we ask for the dignification of our salary and that article 91 of the Constitution be complied with. We have not requested a mosaic schedule”, pointed out Manuel Mora, director of SUMA Aragua.
According to the Frontera Digital portal, the Mérida sectional Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM) reported that as a union organization they have not ordered teachers to comply with the Mosaic schedule.
José Ramón Gutiérrez, regional coordinator of the union organization, maintained that said intention of the Maduro regime through the Minister of Education has the purpose or with the intention of ending the just fight that teachers have been waging for decent wages.
We cannot force any teacher not to accept this schedule because they are adults and professionals, the FVM has sufficiently oriented the objective on the fair fight that we carry out for a decent salary and each one assumes responsibility for their actions”, he commented.
The president of the Sucre-Cumana Venezuelan Teachers Union (Sinvema), Gregory Quijano, also categorically rejected the application of the mosaic schedule in schools.
He indicated that the proposal to teach only two days a week is nothing more than a justification from the employer for the insufficient salary received by workers in the sector.
Possible consequences of the mosaic schedule
The teachers’ unions assured that the schedule modality will bring consequences. The union leader Manuel Mora stressed that the implementation of the new schedule could cause free, popular and democratic education to “end.”
Raquel Figueroa, specialist in Educational Policies and union leader of Fenaprodo-CPV, indicated in an interview for firewood effectthat the country is heading towards a “totally mediocre” education.
“We are not focusing on the development of pedagogy. Pedagogy focuses on the development of humanity and society. At this moment the State is focusing on a mechanical and behavioral vision, purely of content. The class period is reduced by more than half. What do you teach a child at that time?” Figueroa said.
The teachers reiterate that they will remain in the streets until their demands are heard and action is taken in this regard.