The education system has changed around the world in the last year. In Venezuela, the difficulties extend beyond isolation and Covid-19; social, political and economic problems have greatly impacted education in elementary and secondary schools in recent years.
Antecedents and pre-pandemic education in public schools
“In 2019, we had very tough and sad experiences in terms of children’s nutrition. We observed that many students were coming without eating, especially the kids in the afternoon shift,” says Alba Medina, a teacher at a public school.
In the past, some schools had a dining room, but the country’s situation prevented them from offering proper food. “It was more common that they did not have any food at all,” says Gladys Rosas, a professor at a charter school.
In recent years, the economic and social crisis in Venezuela has worsened, and Michelle Bachelet’s report states that it began to be observed before sanctions were imposed on several sectors. People’s purchasing capacity is decreasing considerably every day and their income is insufficient for basic needs.
The chances of purchasing medicines, food and other products are conditioned by inflation. The deprivation of fundamental rights related to food is palpable in the streets and the insufficient availability of food has resulted in malnutrition and weight loss. According to a study conducted by the National Survey of Living Conditions in Venezuela, Encovi, Venezuelans have lost an average of 24 pounds of body weight due to insufficient food.
“In one week, I had to buy them something three times, so that the children could hold out until the end of the afternoon. There is a girl who told me at one o’clock in the afternoon: ‘I want to go, because I haven’t eaten anything today'”.
Teacher Alba Medina bought her some food so that she could stay for the rest of the day.
“But what could I buy? We know that the situation is difficult, and we don’t earn much. I went and bought some bananas.”
On another occasion she ordered a fruit ice cream on credit for another girl so that she could hydrate herself and have something in her stomach.
The World Food Program (WFP) conducted a study in 8,375 Venezuelan homes between July and September 2019. This analysis identified that one in three Venezuelans need assistance and are food insecure, 2.3 million people live with severe food insecurity and 7 million are moderately insecure.
It also highlights that 74% of the families have had to employ survival methods by reducing food quantities, quality, variety, and more. For example, 33% have accepted food as payment for work. The analysis found that 17.8% of households have an unacceptable level of food consumption, 59% have insufficient income to buy food and 65% are unable to purchase other basic necessities.
Many teachers do their best for the welfare of the students, doing their work by vocation, because their own salary is not enough either.
“We went all the way to a child’s house to help him,” says Medina, because the problems with the telephone signal in the country prevent them from calling the parents from the school. “A very supportive secretary who has a car was assisting me… the child fainted, pale, white… we think that’s the problem, the poor nutrition. There are very pale children, with white mouths, those are children who come without breakfast.”
Severe acute malnutrition has increased in Venezuela, according to a study carried out by the organization Caritas Venezuela on the nutritional status of children under five years of age. The analysis was conducted between July and September 2019, with information from 11,602 children in 15 states, of whom 66% had some level of nutritional deficit or were at risk.
Twelve states in the country showed rates of acute malnutrition that were above the crisis limit and five of them had margins above the emergency thresholds.
Food problems are not only caused by inflation and economic problems. The document presented at the UN exposes that the government’s social and economic policies in recent years have allowed food production systems to be undermined.
Malnutrition was observed by teachers in classrooms. School absenteeism was becoming more marked by the day. Without food and with public transportation problems, many children and adolescents did not go to school.
“One girl has three more siblings, they are very poor… she is very skinny. She used to come and go on foot, she had to cook on a stove before coming. The mother is a single parent, she doesn’t have the means for a good diet… they are people who eat one arepa and that’s all they spend the day with,” Gladys Rosas points out.
Education during the pandemic
Since March 2020, Venezuela has been in quarantine, with changes according to the measures dictated by the government. Children were sent home and a phase of distance learning began.
Many public schools, with children with less access to the Internet, established homework submission deadlines. Parents receive the activities for the week, or month, and then they must present the finished work on the scheduled date.
On the other hand, many private schools have focused on virtual education. Some have been flexible, while others have demanded greater dedication, and it has upset parents and children.
“My daughter begged me to change her school. She was connected to the virtual classroom all day and started having severe headaches,” says Patricia Soto.
The level of exigency is not the biggest challenge; parents have to deal with internet and electricity failures.
“At my children’s school, they understand the country’s situation with the internet problems, and are less strict. They send out assignments once a week and we have several days to respond. But there are other schools where the children have to report daily and send homework every day,” says Maria Torrealba.
Given such a long quarantine, much of the education has fallen to the parents, who must serve as intermediaries between the teachers and the children. For some, it has been very challenging because they are not prepared to be teachers.
“I am lucky because I was a college professor, but it is not the same with children, and many times I lose my patience, says Karla Marín.
“It’s nothing like education used to be. My kids don’t follow a schedule. There are schools that ask for daily interaction, like an attendance list, but in my children’s school they understand the reality. I am strict with homework, so that they comply and learn, but I do not pressure them to get up early, because I believe that the confinement of quarantine is enough for them”, says María Torrealba.
According to surveys conducted by the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services in the country’s main cities, it was determined that only 34% of households have access to Internet. In addition, 40% of those consulted stated that they suffer frequent interruptions in their electricity supply.
For disadvantaged populations, the problems in accessing virtual classes go beyond internet and electricity failures. Many of these students do not have access to technological equipment that can receive material and do research. In addition, many of the teachers in these public institutions, with very low salaries, also do not have smartphones to communicate with their students. This interferes with the school curriculum and generates inequality among the student population.
Meanwhile, the administration of Nicolás Maduro has announced that in-person education will be resumed gradually in the next few weeks. As a result, this year’s school calendar will conclude between virtual and on-site classes.
Image credit: Lourdes ÑiqueGrentz