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The Venezuelan government has ordered the return to classrooms for this Monday in areas unaffected by the earthquakes of June 24, a decision that the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers has categorically rejected, considering it a direct threat to the lives of students and teachers, as reported by the EFE agency.
The Ministry of Popular Power for Education announced on Friday that classes will resume on July 6 in states and institutions where the infrastructure shows no visible damage, while they will remain suspended in the municipalities of Aragua, Caracas, Miranda, Baruta, Sucre, Carabobo, Falcón, and La Guaira.
The Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM) responded with a statement in which it demanded that "the restart or continuation of school activities should not be forced without a proper technical, structural, and pathological evaluation of the buildings."
The teaching union described it as irresponsible to resume activities in spaces without formal certification of habitability issued by engineers, technicians, and civil protection agencies, warning that this decision "poses an imminent risk to children, adolescents, and teaching staff."
The FVM went further and warned that if any incidents occur in operating educational institutions, "the legal, civil, and criminal responsibility will fall directly on the Minister of Education and the authorities who forced the return to classrooms without the necessary guarantees."
The background of the dispute is extremely serious: the double earthquake of June 24 —with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, centered near Morón in Yaracuy state— is the strongest seismic event recorded in Venezuela since 1900, with an official toll of 3,342 dead and 16,740 injured.
The UN estimates up to 50,000 missing persons and 6.76 million affected individuals, while UNICEF warned that more than 680,000 children need urgent humanitarian assistance.
More than 432 schools in the Capital District were damaged, and the latent structural risk became evident on Friday when the Agustiniano San Judas Tadeo School in La Pastora, Caracas, partially collapsed nine days after the earthquakes, affecting adjacent homes and leaving at least one person injured.
NASA identified up to 58,870 potentially damaged or destroyed buildings in the affected area, and the UNDP estimated the direct damages at 6.7 billion dollars, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela's GDP.
The FVM also reported that the unilateral modification of the school calendar violates articles 54 and 56 of the education law and undermines the labor rights of teachers, administrative staff, and workers.
The guild rejected the notion that the state's response "is limited to a technical and administrative adjustment of the school calendar" and emphasized that "the current crisis goes beyond the closing of reports and classroom planning; it is a matter of national security and the preservation of life."
The 2025-2026 school year is scheduled to end on July 31, with a third term concluding on the 17th of that month, leaving only a few weeks for the government and teachers to resolve a dispute that threatens the safety of hundreds of thousands of children.
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