The Ministry of Education confirmed that the 2025-2026 school year will start on Monday, September 15 throughout the country. A week earlier, Minister Héctor Rodríguez called education workers to return to the schools progressively.
However, the balance in Caracas showed little receptivity. Edgar Machado, president of the Venezuelan Teacher Union of the Capital-FVM District (Sinvemadc)he said in the program Point and we continue of Radio Fe y Alegría News That in 109 schools in the capital, 80% of educators did not attend this week.
“Nothing else joined some workers, administrative and a group of interim teachers for fear or for other reasons,” he said. In addition, he assured that the reality in the rest of the country is similar: almost 78 % of educators did not appear and the majority plans to do it next week.
“There is a group of teachers who still say that he does not know if he will return to class classrooms because of the low salaries we have in education,” he added.
Debate by the school calendar
Machado rejected this advance in the call and recalled that the Organic Law of Fixed Education on September 16 as the official start of classes for teachers and students. He also remarked that the law guarantees 201 days of mandatory activities, a right that, he said, is supported by both the Constitution and by current regulations.
Recovered campuses, but with deficiencies
He Minister Rodríguez He informed that the Government rehabilitated more than 300 schools and will open 30 new educational centers in the next few days.
Machado recognized those works, but pointed out that the improvements do not always attack the underlying problems, stressing that in some cases it was only enough to paint, but in others major repairs are needed, such as waterproofing.
In that context, the union announced that next week will begin an inspection day in Caracas. According to the leader, half of the more than 800 public schools in the city maintain precarious conditions to receive students.
Working conditions in the center of the claim
Beyond the infrastructure, Machado insisted that the priority should be the dignification of the teaching career. He recalled that the low salaries have expelled thousands of classroom teachers and that without a plan to recover the profession, the crisis will continue.
The unionist called Minister Rodríguez to resume the negotiations of the collective contract, paralyzed since former Minister Yelitze Santaella withdrew from the dialogue table.
