Recuerdo que en mi época, nuestros padres decían: “Estudia, para que salgas adelante”. La educación era una de las formas de avanzar socialmente. Ahorita, nadie quiere estudiar ni prepararse si le van a pagar 3$. Es triste decirlo, pero este gobierno no solo roba elecciones, también ha robado las aspiraciones de un país.

Todas las imágenes son de mi galería personal y ell texto fue traducido en Deepl

HASTA UNA PRÓXIMA OPORTUNIDAD, AMIGOS

[Versión en inglés]
I need a raise now
I've come this way to unburden myself to you! On Thursday of this week they paid 25% of the end of the year bonus to the public administration and in my case it was only 1100 bolivars, something like $30. That same day I quickly went to the supermarket and bought some meat, chicken, cheese, ham, coffee, sugar, detergent and an avocado. And that's it: it was gone. Gone was the little piece of Christmas bonus and I was like a fan: looking everywhere.
In the past, I remember, the aguinaldo or the utilities were used to fix the house, buy paint, buy toys for the baby Jesus, buy the December premieres and even to give the “aguinaldo” to the godchildren and nephews and nieces. Now, they are used to buy some of the basic basket of goods because not even to pay for water, electricity or internet services is enough.
It makes me sad (and angry) to say that I am a university teacher, with 24 years of service, with two degrees, and sometimes I cannot eat what I want, that I have not bought a book for years and even more that I do not travel or go to the movies, and that more than living, I survive. I feel that education is the union that has been most beaten by this government. They are not interested in education at all, that is why, in the face of the wave of student and teacher desertion, they do nothing: the more the people are unprepared, the better it is for them.
We have seen with real concern how thousands of teachers, of all educational levels, have emigrated in these 25 years of government to other countries, where their knowledge and experience are recognized and better paid. And what has been the solution to this problem: hiring people who are not professionally trained, some with criminal records, to teach our children.
For example: this week a video of a man who claimed to be a physical education teacher, due to the lack of teachers, went viral in the networks. The man, nicknamed “The Mask”, is allegedly known for not having a lawful life. Also, the video of the minister calling retired teachers to return to the classrooms spread like wildfire. Nobody comes up with the idea of increasing the salary of the workers, nobody intelligent realizes that one way to attract back the education professionals is to give them a better treatment professionally and economically.
To say that the minimum wage in this country is $3.00 seems like a joke, but it is the harsh reality. As a joke it seems that the wrongly called “worker president” has been the worst in terms of labor remuneration, contract compliance and discussion of wage agreements. The country that was once one of the most prosperous in the region, is submerged in a hyperinflation never seen before and in an unusual economic recession. Not to mention that we have a currency so devalued that nobody wants it and the dollar is a monster that advances weekly.
I repeat: there is no doubt that we are the most disadvantaged sector, even though we are one of the most important. But as long as there are ministers who make the recommendation to look for an additional trade in order to survive, as long as they hire people with no preparation to teach, as long as there is no real and significant increase, unfortunately we will be walking backwards, because improvising in the educational field is playing with our future.
I remember that in my time, our parents used to say: “Study, so you can get ahead”. Education was one of the ways to advance socially. Nowadays, nobody wants to study or prepare themselves. It is sad to say, but this government not only steals elections, it has also stolen the aspirations of a country.