No food, no teachers, violence in failing Venezuela schools

[Zorro]

Maria Arias slipped her notebooks into her backpack, scrounged for a banana to share with her brother and sister, and set off for high school through narrow streets so violent taxis will not come here for any price. She hoped at least one teacher would show up.

But her 7 a.m. art class was canceled when the teacher called in sick. History class was suspended. There was no gym class because the coach had been shot dead weeks earlier. And in the afternoon, her Spanish teacher sent the students home early to meet a gang-imposed curfew.

"It's a trap," the slight 14-year-old with pink lipstick complained. "You risk your life to be here and end up waiting around for hours doing nothing. But you have to keep coming because it's the only way out."

The soaring crime and economic chaos stalking Venezuela is ripping apart a once-up-and-coming school system, robbing poor students such as Maria of any chance at a better life. Officially, Venezuela has canceled 16 school days since December, including Friday classes because of an energy crisis.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-food-no-teachers-violence-failing-venezuela-schools-133126100.html

[jonno99]

1. Very sad. My heart goes out to the kids especially. Thanks for the post. nt