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Higher Education for Socialism in Venezuela: Massification, Development and Transformation

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Logics of Socialist Education

Part of the book series: Explorations of Educational Purpose ((EXEP,volume 24))

Abstract

This chapter examines the reform of higher education in Venezuela, in the context of the country’s explicit program of national transformation and construction of ‘twenty-first-century socialism’. Venezuela’s break from orthodox neoliberal policy frameworks began with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998, accelerated following his re-election in 2006 under the banner of building ‘Bolivarian socialism’. Some of the most striking reforms have been the mass expansion in enrolments via new public universities, open-access pathways to enrolment and an attempt to reconceptualise university education, its nature, content and delivery. Drawing on policy documents and data, as well as 15 months of fieldwork in Caracas over 2010–2011 by the author, this chapter identifies and elaborates some of the key characteristics of the transformation of higher education being advanced in the country and their links to the wider process of building a viable model of socialism for this century.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Translations of quotes from Spanish to English have been completed by the author.

  2. 2.

    In Venezuela “organic” laws set the general, normative or regulatory framework for subsequent more specific laws, in effect establishing the principles to guide the further elaboration of legislation. Given their importance, a two thirds majority in the Parliament is required to pass organic laws. The LOE of 2009 replaced the organic law of 1980.

  3. 3.

    Note that Prieto Figueroa’s (2006) work is a reprinting of his thesis about the educator state that was first published in 1947, and then in a revised form in 1977, with text from both appearing in the 2006 publication.

  4. 4.

    It should be noted that the Education Ministries have been some of the most unstable in terms of leadership in recent years, with, for example, three Ministers of Education and three Ministers of University Education being in place during the first 12 months of the author’s stay in Venezuela, beginning February 2010.

  5. 5.

    Cycles of public forums were held by the ministry, universities, and institutions like the Centro Internacional Miranda, in early 2011, and posted to activist websites like Aporrea (http://www.aporrea.org/), but have reduced in frequency throughout the year.

  6. 6.

    For a radical student organisation position, see the “Revolutionary Bolivarian Peumayén Front” (Frente Bolivariano Revolucionario Peumayén) here: http://fpeumayen.blogspot.com/.

  7. 7.

    In early 2010, the official exchange rate was 4.3 BsF: 1 USD, so making this budget $5024 USD per student.

  8. 8.

    These figures amount to just $224 and $62 USD per student, respectively.

  9. 9.

    The press release from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) cited here (DIC-UCV 2011) is misleadingly titled “The UCV will eliminate internal entrance exams”, while the text of the release elaborates the position calling for their replacement with diagnostic “Evaluations by disciplinary areas” identified as Science and Technology; Humanities and Social Sciences, Health Sciences, and Agricultural Sciences.

  10. 10.

    See, for example, the extended preface for Prieto Figueroa’s (2006) work written by the then Minister of Education and current Parliamentary Vice-President, Aristóbulo Istúriz.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Tom G. Griffiths

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  1. Tom G. Griffiths
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Correspondence to Tom G. Griffiths .

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  1. , School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, 2308, New South Wales, Australia

    Tom G. Griffiths

  2. School of Education, School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, 2308, New South Wales, Australia

    Zsuzsa Millei

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Griffiths, T.G. (2012). Higher Education for Socialism in Venezuela: Massification, Development and Transformation. In: Griffiths, T., Millei, Z. (eds) Logics of Socialist Education. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4728-9_6

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