Venezuela SOCIAL WELFARE
Fifth-grade classroom, eastern Venezuela
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank
Science Center at the University of the Andes, Mérida
Courtesy Inter-American Development Bank
Education
In the early colonial era, education by the Roman
Catholic
Church served a minority of wealthy landowners who, though
illiterate or barely literate, sought schooling for their
sons in
the manner of Spanish aristocrats. The notion of education
for a
privileged few reflected a rigid, hierarchical social
system that
distinguished between the man of letters and the man who
worked
with his hands. The distinction between manual labor and
more
"artistic" or creative pursuits became deeply ingrained in
the
value system and affected the educational system as well.
The
high prestige attached to traditional and philosophical
studies
channeled resources and talent away from technical and
scientific
fields at university levels and produced curricula at the
primary
and intermediate levels that ignored the vocational needs
of most
of the population. In an abstract sense, the highest
ambition was
to be a pensador (thinker), a man of ideas, an
intellectual, rather than an inventor or a técnico
(technician).
Those who helped shape the struggle for independence
and the
new constitutions of the early nineteenth century were
inspired
by the liberalism of the French and American revolutions.
Simón
Bolívar, who studied in Europe, was greatly influenced by
the
writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and by the French
educational
system. Such features of Venezuelan education as the
degree of
centralization, the rigid structure of schools and
curricula, and
the gaining of knowledge through logic are directly
traceable to
French practices.
The issue of free, public, and compulsory education at
the
primary level first arose during the independence
struggle. After
the initial declaration of independence in 1811, Bolívar
issued a
series of decrees concerning free education. But by the
time of
his death in 1830, most of the programs he had proposed
had not
been implemented. However, the ideal of free, universal
education
had become inextricably joined to the name of the national
hero,
and this ideal has since permeated Venezuelan educational
policies.
The real beginning of free public education, however,
did not
come until 1870. Antonio Guzmán Blanco issued a decree in
which
he recognized compulsory elementary mass education as the
responsibility of the national, state, and local
governments. The
Guzmán regime went on to organize the administration and
financing of the school system, establishing the Ministry
of
Public Education and the first normal schools for training
primary school teachers. In 1891 the National University
of Zulia
in Maracaibo was created, followed in the next year by the
National University of Carabobo in Valencia. But these
ambitious
beginnings came to an abrupt halt. The National University
of
Carabobo was closed shortly after opening and did not
reopen its
doors until 1958. The National University of Zulia, closed
in
1904, did not function again until 1946.
The long dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, although
generally indifferent to education and repressive of
student
demands, did bring about the reestablishment of cordial
relations
between the state and the Roman Catholic Church and
encouraged
church-supported education. Gómez served as a patron to a
number
of intellectuals who were sympathetic to his regime and
increased
the support for the national university in Caracas.
During the decade after the death of Gómez in 1935,
concern
for teacher training prompted the establishment of a new
institute for the preparation of intermediate teachers,
the
National Pedagogic Institute in Caracas. The period also
witnessed an expansion of public schools to rural areas.
During
the trienio, a number of teachers' unions grew up.
The
Pérez Jiménez dictatorship (1948-58), however, represented
a low
point for education. The regime constantly interfered with
and
intermittently closed universities in response to
perceived
opposition among students and faculty. The budget for
education
was cut and the number of students entering and graduating
from
the universities declined.
The return of democratic government in 1958 brought
leaders
committed to improving both the quantity and the quality
of
educational opportunities. A number of new universities
opened
throughout the country, agricultural extension services
reached
out to Venezuelan farmers, and imaginative education
programs
broadcast on radio and television further expanded
opportunities
for learning. In fact, it is generally acknowledged that
it was
only after 1958 that the ideals and goals of Guzmán Blanco
began
to be systematically pursued. At least six years of
primary
school were compulsory until 1980, when the Organic Law of
Education was passed. This law provided for compulsory
preschool
education and nine years of basic education, but the
implementation of preschool education reform has taken
longer
than originally intended.
For the upper class, the growing middle class, and
those
members of the lower class with upward aspirations, an
academic
education has been indispensable. For this reason, the
secondary
schools, which prepared students for the universities and
subsequently for white-collar jobs or academic careers,
were more
popular than other intermediate-level schools, such as
technical
schools or training institutes. Despite government efforts
to
promote vocational education, university students
continued to
display a preference for the professions that have always
been
prestigious and popular, and not for the newer technical
fields
where the need was greatest. This presented a problem in a
country that was more industrialized than most in Latin
America.
In an effort to alleviate this problem and to enhance the
prestige of a technical education, since 1969 the
government has
facilitated the entry into the university system of
students from
a variety of sources, including those students with a
technical
education degree. The changes injected a high degree of
flexibility into the education system from 1969 on.
At the same time, the social distinction that has
always
existed between private and public schools, particularly
at the
secondary level, has intensified as a result of the
expansion of
public education. Although the public or official schools
often
enjoyed better financial support and, as a result, newer
equipment and more highly paid teachers, a private-school
education still carried far more prestige in the minds of
many
Venezuelans. In light of the cachet bestowed by
affiliation with
a private school, some teachers split their time between
the two
systems.
Since the mid-twentieth century, the natural sciences
have
been emphasized in education as international
organizations and
private foundations have cooperated with the national
government
in promoting research. The social sciences have been
greatly
influenced by work done in the United States, especially
in the
area of economic development.
Overall, Venezuela was among the most literate of the
Latin
American countries. The literacy rate among Venezuelans
fifteen
years of age and older was 88.4 percent in 1985. The
government
distributed training materials such as books and tapes
throughout
the country in an effort to encourage those who could read
and
write to assist illiterates in acquiring these skills.
Basic education consisted of nine years of compulsory
schooling for children six to fourteen years of age. For
those
continuing their education, the system offered two years
of
diversified academic, technical, and vocational study at a
senior
high school, which could be followed by various types of
higher
education--junior college, university, or technical
institute. In
addition, adults were encouraged to participate in special
night
classes conducted at all education levels.
Venezuela's education system, as measured by the number
of
schools, teachers, and size of the enrollment, expanded
rapidly
in the 1970s and 1980s (see
table 5, Appendix).
Enrollments at
all levels increased substantially, as did the numbers of
schools
and teachers at each level. Primary enrollments rose by
over 30
percent and secondary by over 50 percent, while
university-level
enrollments nearly doubled, the latter a reflection not
only of
population growth but also of the opening of new schools
and the
easing of entrance requirements. The best-known and oldest
university was the Central University of Venezuela, in
Caracas.
Many of the country's political leaders received their
education
there, and several of the political parties began as
student
groups on the Central University of Venezuela's campus. To
the
west, Maracaibo was the site of the private Rafael
Urdaneta
University and the public Zulia University. The public
University
of the Andes was located in Mérida. Carabobo University in
Valencia, Eastern University (Universidad de Oriente) in
Sucre,
and Midwestern University (Universidad Centro- Occidental)
in
Barquisimeto were all public universities.
Shifts in the economy affected Venezuela's technical
education needs. Until the economic downturn of the 1980s,
the
shortage of skilled workers and managers was a main
concern of
government planners. Skilled personnel were needed to
operate
what had been a burgeoning and technologically
sophisticated
economy. To fill the gap, Venezuela recruited many skilled
foreign technicians, expanded its technical education
facilities,
and sent Venezuelans abroad for training, particularly in
the
United States and Europe. With the economic decline of the
1980s,
however, rising unemployment replaced the continuing lack
of
technically qualified personnel as the primary manpower
concern,
and the emphasis on technical education was reduced
(see Labor
, ch. 3).
Data as of December 1990
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