Socialism Fails on Education in Venezuela

Who Finances Education In Venezuela?

“The country situation” is a phrase commonly used by Venezuelans these days. And it can be used to explain very particular circumstances…

Within these circumstances, there are things that might be interesting to people outside of Venezuela.

For example, how can people survive with a wage of only $8/month? (which was raised recently, but soon it will go down to the regular $2/month because of hyperinflation).

Autonomous universities do not escape this reality.

So that begs the question, how can these universities be sustained? Especially since most students, workers, and professors are opposed to the current government.

This political conflict means workers of these universities do not count on government benefits like “the food box”… a box that has basic food items which is sold to people at a really low price (and sometimes even free).

This leaves the purchasing power of college professors as one of the lowest in the country, and puts them at a disadvantage. And also makes college students nearly “extinct” because paying a private university is off limits to 85% of the population.

If this is the case, then the question of “who finances the education in Venezuela?” arises.

I believe it’s the professors themselves…

They go and teach every day because it is their calling and they love what they do (even if they aren’t getting paid). They are, in some respects, “volunteers” since teaching stopped being their primary income stream.

For example… some professors teach because of the love and commitment they have to the university and their careers.

Thanks to this, their salaries can last a little longer over the month.

On the other side, the cleaning of the universities it’s done by the students themselves. Because, if there’s no budget to pay professors a decent wage, then there’s none to hire a good cleaning service.

This is just one example of how socialism has forced us to think and use “unusual alternatives” so we can sustain one of the most basic pillars of society: education.