Venezuela education crisis: child malnutrition, teacher vacancies and suicide risk surge

A report by the NGO FundaRedes highlights a deepening education crisis in Venezuela. It finds that about 80% of children attending public schools are malnourished and that 56% of those children have considered suicide. Teacher shortages are acute, with 74% of permanent teaching posts in public schools remaining vacant and salaries as low as $240 a month, covering only a third of basic food costs. Around 70% of Venezuelan households still live in poverty, and many states, especially Táchira on the Colombian border, suffer chronic power outages, limited drinking‑water access and deteriorating school infrastructure.

Xabier Tarasona, president of FundaRedes, said, “The school feeding system does not work,” and added that authorities “do not care about what they cause.” The report warns that the combined effects of economic collapse, inadequate nutrition and mental‑health stress threaten an entire generation of Venezuelan youth.