VENEZUELAN UNIVERSITY STUDIES: CRISIS AND FUTURE

After working for 25 years as a university teacher, I see with great concern the future of the universities in my country Venezuela.
The university education in this country has been considered, one of the best in Latin America, proof of this is the success of the professionals graduated from our study centers, which in various countries have been considered of excellent quality both in the academic context and personal.

We have in Venezuela public and private universities with a high demand that guarantees the quality of the human product that we deliver to the labor market, competitive, responsible and above all with a high spirit of teamwork and a sense of cooperation. The United States, Canada, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and other countries have welcomed our young people and they have shown their quality.
However, today our Universities face a crisis that resembles the empty nest syndrome, just as many Venezuelan families have seen their young children leave, in search of new opportunities that allow them to fulfill their dreams, many of our students have party without completing their studies because the economic situation has pushed them to do so.

The economic crisis in Venezuela also touched the university sector that today is in serious trouble to survive with budgets that are insufficient for its operation, wages and salaries that reach for 5% if perhaps of the estimated family budget, socioeconomic benefits for the sector students already non-existent, as are the benefits of dining and transportation ...
I praise the impetus of those who still maintain the Institutions even in such conditions and continue in the struggle. Teachers, workers and students who still persist because they can not leave.
However, enrollment has declined enormously and many of the teachers have had to emigrate, because the most important thing is to guarantee the physical and emotional integrity of their families.
Today the Universities as a representative sample of the country are also in crisis.
Our challenge is to continue believing in the universality of thought, in the plurality of education and in the investment in the values that increase the human being to build a better world.