Successful Return to School in Venezuela

Venezuela woke up on Monday, September 30, fully prepared to start the new school year and return to classes. According to President Nicolás Maduro, over five million students returned to the classrooms for the 2024-2025 school year without problems.

Minister of Education Héctor Rodríguez reported that “the teams are deployed throughout the country organizing the school kits that we are going to deliver to support more than two million students with [free] uniforms and [school] supplies.”

This Monday, during a back-to-school ceremony alongside Minister Rodríguez, President Maduro thanked “the country’s youth,” who began the 2024-2025 school year and who number over five million students, with children and adolescents at the various levels of the country’s primary and secondary education system. In this regard, President Maduro said that thanks to the efforts of the Military Community Education Brigades (Bricomiles), over 1,500 educational institutions were fully refurbished, demonstrating the whole society’s contributions to education.

During a speech on Sunday in La Guaira state to celebrate two months since his electoral victory, President Maduro requested that all school institutions be optimized for the return to classes.

“The 2024-2025 school year starts on Monday, and we have to get schools and high schools up to speed. This is going to be the best school year ever seen in Venezuela. We are heading for a great educational revolution in quality,” he added.

“They [students] will be the protagonists of a country that will be built by us, full of social equality, which means the greatest possible happiness,” said President Maduro.

For his part, Minister Rodríguez said that for this new academic year that begins, “we have the same goal: to improve the quality of education for our sons and daughters and provide greater well-being for teachers.”

Last week, Minister Rodríguez discussed strengthening the School Meals Program (PAE), aimed at providing free meals for over four million students this year. The minister reported on another program to strengthen the healthcare programs for teachers and the loan programs to improve their quality of life.

Only 15% of the student population in Venezuela is enrolled in private schools, and 85% are in the public school network. Salary issues, migration, and the general deterioration of the Venezuelan economy due to US illegal sanctions have negatively impacted the quality of education in Venezuela. However, President Maduro’s government has recently launched several initiatives to correct these issues, and there is optimism about the upcoming new academic year.

School Food Program To Serve 4 Million Children in Venezuela

Meals program guaranteed
As part of the return to school, the Ministry of Education distributed over 3,000 freezers to schools across Venezuela this weekend “to ensure proper storage of School Meal Program (PAE) products.”

“The work plan is to strengthen the PAE in its logistical capacity (distribution and storage), increase the attention of students and teachers, and improve the menu for a more balanced diet,” wrote Minister Rodríguez on social media.

(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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