This Monday, September 30th, the starting date of the new 2024-2025 school year, student absenteeism in public schools in the state of Carabobo was over 70%, according to figures gathered by Sintraenseñanza Carabobo (Education workers union of Carabobo State).
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The general secretary of Sintraenseñanza Carabobo, Juan Tortolero, stated that teachers and students returned to classrooms with the same problems as last school year, among which he highlighted the deterioration of the infrastructure of all educational centers.
“Yesterday it rained a lot and the schools must have flooded. The problem of school infrastructure remains, they are not in line with the beginning of the year, very few schools meet the minimum requirements,” emphasized Tortolero.
He indicated that another of the difficulties faced by the educational union is the lack of a decent salary that allows them to cover their basic expenses and live with dignity. He recalled that the collective contract expired more than three years ago.
“Today teachers are going through a worse situation than last year, because the dollar has devalued, so today we earn a little less than we earned yesterday. Minister (of Education), Héctor Rodríguez, sit down with the federations to discuss a collective contract that dignifies the worker, complies with the Organic Law of Labor that establishes that the employer has to discuss the collective contract. The collective contract has expired, in the contract project the economic clauses have not been discussed and the third single and unitary convention for three years has not been approved,” he affirmed.
On the other hand, the General Secretary of Sintraenseñanza Carabobo recognized the initiative of the new Minister of Education, who on September 26th announced the signing of an agreement with the Ministry for Habitat and Housing related to the construction of 25,000 houses for teachers, in addition to a line of credit for the repair of roofs and walls in the houses of those teachers who already own a property.
“The new minister has made good proposals, especially on the subject of housing. We hope that in order to be able to pay off this credit, the teacher’s salary will be increased,” said Tortolero.
The General Secretary of Sintraenseñanza Carabobo reiterated the importance of implementing public policies that dignify teachers who continue to be committed to providing quality education in the country.