Education in Venezuela

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The standard of education in Venezuela is one of the highest in the region. Of Venezuelans age 15 and older, 93.4 percent can read and write, one of the highest literacy rates in the region. The literacy rate in 2003 was estimated to be 93.8 percent for males and 93.1 percent for females. Although the Venezuelan education system is overextended and under funded, the Venezuelan government remains committed to the idea that every citizen is entitled to a free education. Nine years of education are "compulsory" education. The school year extends from February until November. The student population and the education budget have increased, but many children do not attend school because they are undocumented aliens or because of "poverty". An estimated 20 percent of the population is without any formal education. The Ministry of Education of Venezuela's efforts are aimed at adapting the curriculum to the demands of an increasingly technological society, expanding compulsory education, and upgrading teacher qualifications.

Venezuela has more than 90 institutions of "higher education", with more than 6 million students. Higher education remains free under the 1999 constitution and was receiving 35 percent of the education budget, even though it accounted for only 11 percent of the student population. More than 70 percent of higher-education students come from the wealthiest quintile of the population. In 2003 the Chávez government withheld funding from the country's universities in an alleged attempt, according to rectors of those institutions, to punish them. (All of the major public university rectors were elected on antigovernment platforms.) In July 2003, the government established the Bolivarian University while withholding budgeted funds to many of the existing universities.