30th May 2007
President Chavez announced plans to dramatically expand higher education in Venezuela. Here are some details:
On Thursday, at an event with university students from around the country, Chavez also announced the launch of the first phase of Mission Alma Mater, which is supposed to dramatically increase the country’s higher education system. Chavez explained that this phase of the new program will go from 2007 to 2012 and will have the objective of constructing 28 national universities in different parts of the country.
"There will be 11 new national universities, in addition to 13 regional ones, and 4 new technical institutes," explained Chavez. He went on to explain that the new national universities will be organized into the following specializations: University of Health Sciences, University of Basic Sciences, University of Art, University of Hydrocarbons, University of Security, University of Languages, University of the South, University of Economy and Fiscal Sciences, University of Tourism, University of Communications, and a University of Agricultural Sciences.
Chavez also announced that the 29 existing technological institutes and technical schools in the country will be converted into technical universities.
In addition, Chavez made various announcements affecting the existing universities in the country. All university staff will receive salary raises for 2006-2007 and will be paid back pay that the state has accumulated over the past 15 years. All workers will receive between 28 percent to 34 percent pay raises, depending on their position in the public universities.
Chavez added that Bs. 1.4 billion has been approved to pay all retired upper education personnel up to December 31st, 2006. $12 million will be invested in university cafeterias and 1,800 computers will be given to high schools and universities. University scholarships will also be increased by 10,000 this year and all scholarships will be raised to $100 per month in all the universities in the country.
200 hundred buses will be donated to the universities to make student travel to and from classes more amenable. The plan is for the students themselves to operate these new bus fleets.
Also, all entrance examinations to public universities will be eliminated, so that students only need a high school diploma in order to enter the university system. The entrance examinations had constituted a major filter mechanism that skewed university entrance in favor of the upper and middle class, who could better afford entrance examination preparation courses.
At the same meeting Chavez indicated that a constituent assembly will be held in order to democratize the so-called “autonomous universities” such as the Central University, Simon Bolivar University, and University of Carabobo amongst others, which receive money from the state but still continue to pander to the elites and private school graduates.
The traditional university system is still a bastion of the ex ruling classes and this will be another brick to fall in the wall of working class exclusion from society.
Andy Goodall
VSC Coordinator
Source: Oil Wars blog www.oilwars.blogspot.com |
