Teachers Hold Classes Outdoors as Caracas Schools Collapse

Across the hillsides and central plazas of Caracas, a new kind of classroom has emerged: plastic chairs set on sidewalks, white-uniformed students balancing notebooks on their knees as traffic hums past. This makeshift schooling is no longer an exception but a growing reality for families throughout the capital, reflecting a broader collapse in Venezuela's education system that has accelerated in recent years.

The Decline of a Once-Pioneering System

Venezuela once stood as a leader in education access across Latin America. According to reporting by The New Humanitarian, the country registered notable achievements under former President Hugo Chávez, who implemented successful reforms including a mass literacy campaign and meal programmes for students. However, those gains have been eroded by a lack of basic state support and crumbling infrastructure, forcing teachers in communities from Maracaibo to Caracas to abandon dilapidated classrooms and improvise outdoors.

Local Manifestations in Caracas

In neighbourhoods across the capital, the effects are visible. The shift to outdoor instruction is most acute in lower-income parishes such as Petare, El Valle, and Antímano, where school buildings have fallen into disrepair due to years of underinvestment. Teachers in these areas have reported shortages of electricity, running water, and basic teaching materials, making indoor classrooms uninhabitable for long stretches. The New Humanitarian documented a scene in Maracaibo where ten children, all in white uniforms, sat on plastic chairs outdoors-some attentive, others lost in the surrounding bustle-a snapshot replicated in schoolyards and street corners across Caracas.

Impacts on Students and Families

The loss of structured indoor learning environments has particularly affected young children in early primary grades. Without functioning classrooms, many students receive only a few hours of instruction a day, and attendance can be irregular. The prior meal programmes that once encouraged enrolment have also been scaled back in many schools, placing additional strain on families already grappling with the broader economic crisis. While precise current attendance figures are not available from official sources, the visible proliferation of informal classes in public spaces suggests a growing education gap between Caracas's wealthier and poorer neighbourhoods.

For now, families and teachers are left to improvise. Without a coordinated state intervention to repair schools, restore utilities, and re-establish meal programmes, the outdoor classroom may remain the most common sight for Caracas's schoolchildren in the months ahead. The trajectory points to a generation whose education is being determined not by the quality of instruction but by the condition of the building that houses it.