In Venezuelan Schools, Creating 'a New Man'

Students at the Fermin Toro School in Caracas, where the curriculum extols the socialism of President Hugo Chávez, participate in a martial arts session. (By Juan Forero -- The Washington Post)

At the same time, students address teachers by their first names, and scamper in and out of principal Sierra's office, no knocking required. Not surprisingly, the system here has plenty of supporters.

"We never did this before," said Yanieles Salazar, 16, who said she's particularly happy taking cooking classes. "The teachers are cool. I can't say more. Everything is good."

It may seem hippie-dippy, but teachers said they are serious about their mission.

Ivonne Lanz, a math teacher and administrator at Fermin Toro, said the education system's values had veered from "what our founders wanted." She said the school is now focused on developing more "humane" citizens. And she said the workshops teachers attend were designed to produce a curriculum that would reflect those new values.

"We're the ones who are developing it," she said. "These are proposals that are being fixed, added on to and eliminated. And in the end, we'll have a new focus -- the new person the republic calls for."

In a country as polarized as Venezuela, such talk has generated near-hysteria among parents, particularly in middle- and upper-class districts, where distrust of the president runs high. Many of their children go to private institutions, but they are fully aware that the president has said those schools would also have to follow a new curriculum, or face being closed.

The parents' slogan, splashed across banners at rallies, is "Don't mess with my children." And at numerous parent assemblies, they often break into shouts of "No means no," a reference to a Dec. 2 referendum in which Venezuelans rejected constitutional changes that would have enhanced presidential powers.

"Reading the school material, you see the hidden Marxism," said Reyna Ordaz, president of the parents association at the Santiago de Leon School.

Another parent who has a son at Santiago de Leon, Adriana de Almea, agreed, saying: "That's what's worrisome, that they take over the primary educational system and wash their little brains and put in socialist ideas that we don't want."

Ecarri, who is a Chacao councilman, said the government's proposals emphasize the military and present a distorted picture of Venezuelan history, glossing over such unpleasant episodes as a failed coup Chávez launched in 1992. Ecarri asserted that Venezuela's educational system, which like most in Latin America compares poorly with Asian school systems, will fall further behind if the reforms go through.

"What characterizes this Bolivarian educational system is immense mediocrity, incompetence, recklessness and, more than anything else, irresponsibility in taking our children to a system that lacks even the most elementary norms that an educational system should have," he said.

Those who support changes to the educational system, however, say the opposition is trying to whip people into a frenzy in search of a signature issue ahead of November elections, in which Venezuelans will elect governors and mayors.