Catholic education is in intensive care, says AVEC priest

The president of the Venezuelan Association of Catholic Education (AVEC), Father Francisco Antonio Méndez, highlighted the critical situation of education in Venezuela, within the framework of the organization’s 79th anniversary.

“Schools are in great needthe educational sector is really neglected, teachers have a starvation salary, schools are really neglected”stated the president of the AVEC, as stated Celam DNA.

Likewise, he commented that the organization makes a great effort to keep the doors of its institutions open five days a week, unlike public schools in Venezuela that only teach classes two days a week. “Because of the lack of teachers, because of what the low salary means, “education in Venezuela is in intensive care”he lamented.

The president of the AVEC recalled that the organization began with 10 affiliated educational institutions and today there are 1,100 affiliated schools throughout the country. “We have lived these 79 years always growing in number of members,” he commented.

The AVEC was founded in Caracas in 1945, and brings together all those institutions that voluntarily ask to join and that are defined by a quality educational and evangelizing project, of believing commitment and social change.

Despite the obstacles, the AVEC reaffirmed its commitment to education in Venezuela and its willingness to move forward: “We want to illuminate, contribute and support, not only say that the situation is critical, but rather give a hand to save the school, save the country’s education,” added Father Méndez.

Father Méndez did not fail to refer to the current political situation in Venezuela, stating that “one group wants to remain in power and the other demands new leadership” after the presidential elections on July 28. Furthermore, he specified that although the organization sometimes receives some subsidy from the State, this “does not become a gag” to denounce what is wrong.

“The hope is that our schools are places where we learn to be people who bring goodness against everything that invites us to be insensitive, to do good in a country divided and full of hopelessness, imitating our Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

For their part, the Venezuelan bishops, through the Education Commission of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), congratulated the organization on its 79th anniversary.

“The Catholic Church in its educational mission, institutionally and through the work of its members, is an agent of human, family and social transformation, and therefore values ​​and appreciates the role of AVEC as one of the most significant educational agents in the country,” expressed the CEV on October 18.

Finally, the Episcopate entrusted the work of the AVEC to Our Lady of Coromoto, patron saint of the country, so that she continues to grant many graces to its members and “so that together they continue to build a better country for all.”