Education in Venezuela
Education in colonial Venezuela was neglected compared to other parts of the Spanish Empire which were of greater economic interest.
[4] In the early twentieth century, education was substantially neglected under the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, despite the explosion wealth due to oil.
[5] In 1928 a student revolt, though swiftly put down, saw the birth of the Generation of 1928, which formed the core of the democracy movement of later years.
Some schools may include professional education, and instead award the title of Técnico en Ciencias (Technician of Sciences).
[6] On 14 May 1999, the President Hugo Chávez approved lists of books for schools to educate young citizens on socialist ideology.
According to Venezuela's culture ministry, the compulsory book list is being designed to help schoolchildren eliminate "capitalist thinking" and better understand the ideas and values "necessary to build a socialist country.
[9] Geometry professor Tomas Guardia of the Central University of Venezuela stated that "the math textbook is so problematic, there's a good chance this book is also full of errors and propaganda" after he spent months inspecting math textbooks and noticed simple errors, such as calling a shape with four sides a square when it could also be a rectangle or a rhombus.
Technical schools award the student with the title of Técnico Superior Universitario (University Higher Technician) after completing a three-year program.
In 2015, Venezuela reformed the National Intake System and gave the government total power to award positions to students in public universities.
Along with the reform, other variables were introduced by the Bolivarian government that made it more difficult for students who do not have a lower-class background to find a position in a public university.
According to Quartz, the Bolivarian government reform "disregards several Venezuelan legal precedents", including constitutional laws.
[15] In 2008, Francisco Rodríguez of Wesleyan University in Connecticut and Daniel Ortega of IESA stated that there was “little evidence” of “statistically distinguishable effect on Venezuelan illiteracy” during the Chávez administration.
Bifano acknowledges the country's large educational funds and scientific staff, but states that the output of those scientists had dropped significantly.
The director of the Center for Cultural Research and Education, Mariano Herrera, estimated that there was a shortage of about 40% for math and science teachers.
The Venezuelan government seeks to curb the shortage of teachers through the Simón Rodríguez Micromission by cutting the graduation requirements for educational professionals to 2 years.
[20] In a study titled Venezolana Community Abroad: A New Method of Exile by Thomas Páez, Mercedes Vivas and Juan Rafael Pulido of the Central University of Venezuela, over 1.5 million Venezuelans, between 4% and 6% of Venezuela's population, left the country following the Bolivarian Revolution; more than 90% of those who left were college graduates, with 40% of them holding a Master's degree and 12% having doctorates and/or post doctorates.
[21][22] Páez also explains how some parents in Venezuela tell their children to leave the country for protection from the insecurities Venezuelans face.
