The ‘Federación Venezolana de Maestros’ (FVM, Venezuelan Federation of Teachers) is concerned about the tremendous dropout rate of students from the country’s education system. They informed lapatilla.com that this year the cohorts went from 400 to 70 graduates, in the best cases.
Correspondent lapatilla.com
Low salaries, the paralysis of the discussion of the collective contract since 2022, and the teacher shortage that is close to 50% throughout the country, are the most distressing factors that Venezuelan education and its actors have been burdened with for at least three years.
Carmen Teresa Márquez, president of the FVM, said that the National Government does not seem to care about “education” and asserted that a low salary for teachers and school system employees deteriorates the motivation and desire to practice the profession.
“With hunger and worries, not even with the greatest work ethic can any progress be made. Even more so when the salary is not even enough for public transportation fares.” She mentioned that calls have been made to the Ministry of Education to understand that teachers do not want more “bonuses,” they want improvements in their salary that influence benefits and bonuses.
“It is essential that collective bargaining be resumed, teachers must be dignified because they are the ones who train professionals, as well as the future of the country. Teachers and students deal with poor salaries, political pressure in some cases, and the poor conditions of the educational infrastructure” she pointed out.
Márquez, in the context of the proximity of the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, is concerned about the incorporation of members from the Chamba Juvenil program as teachers in high schools and colleges in the country. She confirmed that in the state of Zulia many members of this social program were allowed to serve as teachers or assistants.
“The call is also to parents. This incorporation of young people from Chamba Juvenil cannot be allowed, they must also assert their rights. Education is not only the responsibility of teachers,” she said.
Andreína Díaz is a teacher from Zulia and confessed to la patilla.com that with regret and sadness she retired from her work as a teacher. She said that after years of struggle and waiting for salaries to be improved, she got tired of waiting and resigned.
“It hurt me, even if you don’t believe it, to leave my students, but I can’t be in a job where I’m not happy because of how poorly they pay me, where I have to bring water and toilet paper, because the school doesn’t have any of that,” she said.
Yasmiry Pérez studied Education at the University of Zulia and dropped out in the fourth semester. Like her, about ten other classmates did the same. She preferred to study Nursing.
She said that in her opinion, in Maracaibo, all professions are poorly paid, but with the option of Nursing, she can have two or three jobs and look for private clinics where they pay a little more. She believes that graduates in Education are the worst paid in the country.
“I continue studying to please my mother who made so many sacrifices for me, but doing nails in a good week I can earn up to 50 dollars and I don’t work long hours. I could earn that as a teacher in a month of work and with a postgraduate degree at least,” she stressed.
With 21 days to go until the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the FVM spokesperson reported that the teacher shortage in the country is about 50%, and the areas with the highest dropout rate are social studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry and English.
In the case of the Zulia region, the shortage of teachers to start the year exceeds 50%.