BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA

YACAMBÚ UNIVERSITY

MASTER'S PROGRAM IN EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

CHAIR: QUALITY OF EDUCATION.

VENEZUELAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

VS
UNITED STATES

Teacher: Made by:

MSc. Leonardo Castillo Licda. Nailibeth Lugo

April 2014
 INTRODUCTION

Education is a fundamental pillar of human development; through it, each

nation deepens its culture by training professionals to develop science and
technology. Educational Systems are immersed in intrinsic and particular factors
specific to each society; Thus, these constitute a subsystem of the socio-cultural
system of each nation, driven by the dynamic interaction of institutions that seek to
socialize knowledge, with the aim of raising educational quality; To achieve this goal,
there must be an effective process that ensures compliance with academic standards
and improves the effectiveness of the services offered.

The study of education worldwide is of great importance, because it provides

knowledge to the development of a society. That is why this document will address
the modern situation of the educational system in Venezuela and the United States.

It is important to highlight that the way each country approaches its

educational policy is different. This will depend on the political-economic horizon
that a nation takes, therefore it is necessary to study this particular topic, to know the
educational environment both globally and nationally, and it is precisely this that will
allow establish a clearer vision of education in Venezuela and the United States.

VENEZUELAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

According to the Venezuelan Organic Law of Education, in title II of the

Principles and Structure of the System, chapter I art. 14 the Venezuelan Educational
System (SEV) “is an organic, integrative set of policies and services that guarantee
the unity of the educational process, both school and extracurricular, and its
continuity throughout the person's life through a process of permanent education . ”

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(p.6).

The formal Educational System of a country fundamentally addresses the

educational rights and needs of citizens. As a public service, it must be carried out in
accordance with the very nature of the educational needs of children and young
people and with the nature of a democratic and pluralistic society. Its structure must
be oriented by the stages of human development, but it must be conceived in a
flexible way with different options to meet the diverse needs of the population.

CHARACTERISTICS . OF THE . SEV

Among the most relevant characteristics of the SEV we can find the
following:

 It is not decentralized.
 The fundamental principles of the (SEV) are contemplated in the National
Constitution and the Organic Law of Education.
 Education in Venezuela is free and compulsory between 7 and 14 years of
age.
 The State guarantees free public secondary and university education.
 The Venezuelan Educational System (according to Article 16 of the LOE) is
comprised of levels and modalities.
 The Venezuelan educational system includes four levels: preschool education,
basic education, diversified and professional secondary education, and higher
education.
 The SEV includes the following modalities: Special Education, Education for
the Arts, Military Education, Education for the Training of Ministers of
Worship, Education for Adults and Extra-curricular Education.

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 Levels that comprise the SEV

Preschool or Initial Education:

 It constitutes the first mandatory level of the SEV
 First level of the SEV, whose purpose is to facilitate and mediate the
comprehensive training of the boy or girl, supporting their development and
growth.
 It includes the following phases: maternal (0 to 3 years) and
compulsory preschool (3 to 6 years).
 It must provide comprehensive quality care to the child population
with the participation of the family and the community.

Basic education:
 It must promote comprehensive training, the basis for learning and human
development of each person. It has pre-vocational guidance and training
policies in, by and for work.
 It is the second level of compulsory education and includes nine years of
study at the end of which the corresponding certification is granted.

Diversified and Professional Secondary Education:

 Curricularly and administratively articulated with higher education.
 Its purpose is to deepen the scientific, humanistic and technological
knowledge of students, as well as to continue with their ethical and civic
training and, particularly, to prepare them for their dignified and effective
incorporation into the labor market and to continue studies at a higher level.
 It lasts 3 years. Accredited with a Bachelor's Degree. Those who have passed
the established requirements will obtain the title of Professional Technician.

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 Higher education:
 Firstly, it is perfectly functional, as it satisfies the demands of society.
 It is not a mandatory level of the SEV
 It is developed in: Higher Technical Institutes and Public and Private
Universities
 Corresponds to training in different areas

Modalities to understand the SEV

Special education:
 It serves those people whose physical, intellectual or emotional
characteristics prevent them from adapting and progressing at different levels
of the educational system.
 It is a school variant of the Venezuelan educational system that is part
of the same principles and purposes of Education, in general maintaining a
relationship of interdependence with the rest of the System.
 The population with special educational needs is served according to
the following groups: From gestation to 6 years, 6 to 15 years and more.

Adult Education
 It is the part of the educational system that is responsible for matters
related to the educational services that the Venezuelan State provides to
people over 15 years of age.
 It covers basic, diversified secondary and professional education with
access to higher education and training in a trade, guaranteeing basic skills for
incorporation into the labor field, combining flexible strategies that provide
adults with personal, social, cultural, community and economic development
in favor of of the common well-being and of society.

Military Education

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 Strengthens Venezuelans about the importance of the problems
inherent to the Sovereignty, Defense and Integrity of the Republic. Mission.
 The Pre-Military Instruction program is planned and executed by the
Ministries of Defense and Education, Culture and Sports.
 It provides the student of diversified and professional secondary
education with the knowledge of social and military sciences inherent to the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic that contributes to their
comprehensive training.

Education for the Arts

 Venezuelan artistic heritage must be protected
 It must promote, rescue and disseminate folkloric manifestations and
those of popular tradition
 Develop in students skills and abilities for interpretation, and aesthetic
and visual appreciation of the different manifestations of art.
 Education for the Training of Ministers of Worship (Ecclesiastical)
 It is governed by the provisions of the Organic Law of Education, insofar
as they are applicable and by the regulations issued by the competent
religious authorities.
 Carried out by religious entities without being separated from the laws of
the State.

Extra-curricular Education.
 Meets the requirements of continuing education.
 It has specially designed programs that provide the population with
knowledge and practices that raise their cultural, artistic and moral level
and improve their ability to work.

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 The educational policy in Venezuela is oriented towards improving quality,
increasing coverage and modernizing the administrative structure of the educational
system, through the review and reform of all its levels and modalities, which is why
it has been given emphasis to the decentralization process, as a strategy aimed at
giving greater management autonomy to educational centers, advising and
academically supporting a program or institution in such a way that it progressively
advances in achieving minimum requirements; and on the other hand, generate
profound changes in the teaching profession for the transformation of the
pedagogical practices that are carried out daily in educational institutions.

In this regard, the Organic Law of Education in Venezuela establishes in its

article 3: “Education has as its fundamental purpose the full development of the
personality and the achievement of a healthy, cultured, critical man capable of
living in a democratic society. fair and free, based on the family as the fundamental
cell and the appreciation of work; able to participate actively, consciously and in
solidarity in the processes of social transformation; consubstantiated with the values
of national identity and understanding, tolerance, coexistence and attitudes that
favor the strengthening of peace among Latin American nations.”

In Venezuela, the modernization of the educational system is not

conceived as the introduction of new techniques or the substitution of procedures
that, although they produce favorable consequences in the teaching-learning
process, encourage the development of citizen awareness for the conservation,
defense and improvement of environment, quality of life and rational use of natural
resources and contributes to the formation and training of the human teams
necessary for the development of the country and the promotion of the creative
efforts of the Venezuelan people towards the achievement of their integral,
autonomous and independent development. .

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 Education in Venezuela is currently going through great changes. Today we
have two educational proposals in our country; even one in transit that, although it is
not approved in some Bolivarian schools and high schools, is currently being
implemented, such as the new national Bolivarian curriculum. That consolidates 4
pillars that will be the basis for the development of Bolivarian education, despite the
fact that the current model and somewhat excluded from schools and high schools
we have the national basic curriculum, which was born from the needs of
Venezuelan education. It was created in 1997 and based on the foundations of the
UNESCO proposal (Delors report), later reforms were made after completing the
project of the Venezuelan constitution of 1999, not only the problem of not having a
uniform model established in Venezuelan education, but also other evils, such as:
the deteriorating conditions of the physical infrastructure of educational centers,
among others.

Regarding the social problems and the economic crisis in Venezuela, it has
generated abrupt changes in the school population and has resulted in a large
number of school dropouts. But education in Venezuela has its positive side today,
some political measures that in a certain way have generated a great impact on the
population, although this does not improve the quality of life of the students, such
as: the implementation of canteens in schools , high schools and the delivery of
computers called Canaima equipped to the student population that in some way
gives a boost to low-income boys and girls who do not have the economic
conditions to satisfy these needs. Although the ideal would be for the state to
promote employment and improve its conditions to reduce educational, health,
housing and insecurity conflicts that so affect the population of Venezuela.

AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

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 World educational systems have particular characteristics that in some way
differentiate them or make them similar to each other, such is the case of the United
States and Venezuela.

Education in the United States is distinguished by its decentralization, "it is a

National priority, a responsibility of the state and a local function" that is, the
federal authorities do not regulate and direct education, because that is what their
constitution contemplates, but rather each one of the states regulate and maintain
their own educational organizations. The national government is only responsible
for certain types of vocational education, limited only to advising, encouraging,
demonstrating and assisting in education. For this reason there is no Ministry of
Education, as there is in Latin American countries.

Education is the sector to which the governments of the 50 states and the 5
territories and associated states of the United States allocate the most budget. From
pre-kindergarten to middle school (High School) are free, at the higher level they
are mostly private. In an interview with the director of the Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA), Andreas Schleicher points out that the United States
invests 7.2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in education. These data
indicate that there is greater public investment in secondary education in the United
States, and that in Latin American countries investment in basic and secondary
education has decreased, however, the Nordic countries have understood that public
investment in basic education, middle and higher education is necessary for the
development of education in general. However, although the United States allocates
that percentage of its GDP for basic and secondary education, at the higher level
they make students pay for a part of their education, with regard to public
universities.

Regarding the financing of education, according to Stevenson, 1992 points out

that "in the United States, financing for primary and secondary school comes from

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three sources: state, local and federal, 50% comes from the states, 43% from local
funds and only 6% of federal funds.” This is public investment, as we see, the
majority is financed by the state and the locality with very little participation from
the federal government, which does not fully finance education as occurs in several
Latin American countries.

American education is considered one of the best in the world, however, some
very critical analysts consider that it can be irregular and of variable quality, taking
into account the competitiveness present in the professional fields of that country.

Schooling generally begins at the age of five, in Kindergarten, and continues

throughout the student's life through its different levels that range from elementary
public school to secondary school, without forgetting varied university offer and
technical and adult schools.

At the age of 6, children in the United States start in Elementary School, to

attend the first of six grades that they must complete to complete Basic Education.

Enrolling a child in an American public school is a fairly simple process.

There is no requirement related to citizenship. The basic requirement is that the
student and his/her representative live in the same district where the school is
located. Some proof of residence will be necessary, such as the apartment rental
document, or telephone or electricity bills. There will also be a health requirement,
such as proof of a recent medical exam or vaccination.

The American academic structure also offers special courses for students who
for some reason cannot enter the regular system. The most frequent need concerns
children who do not speak English. Bilingual education, in English and the most
common foreign languages such as Spanish and Chinese, is available in many
communities. There are also programs for disabled children or children with special
physical conditions.

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 Secondary education is made up of six academic grades. There are different
categories of this level, but generally the seventh, eighth and ninth grades are
considered middle school (“Middle School”) or “Junior High School” and the tenth,
eleventh and twelfth grades are properly called “High School”.

High school is a special experience in American life. It is the time when

young people begin to be culturally induced to independence, an attitude very
typical of life in the United States.

Primary and secondary education can also be provided in private schools.

Although they are often very expensive, private schools are an option for parents
who want to ensure their child a better quality education or a certain religious
training. These institutions are regulated by state governments to force them to
maintain the official educational standard, but they do not receive state financial aid.

Private schools can be day or boarding schools, where students stay on

campus away from their parents.

There are numerous private Catholic schools, where children receive religious
instruction in addition to the academic subjects required by state law. There are also
private military academies, known for offering strict discipline.

In the United States, it is proposed that education should be aimed at helping

students become competitive with respect to the profession or performance they will
have in the mature stage of their life, since at some point they maintained a position
of market competition. Although this is not the case today, it remained a primary
objective at the time. However, the Bolivarian curriculum states that in Venezuela
the social demands are specifically of emancipation, criticality, collective work,
participation, which is why it is inferred to the express that it differs from the rest of
the countries studied, because this object is focused on the situation of exercising
full sovereignty, which adapts to the social reality that Venezuela experiences.

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 President Bush signed the law so that no child is left
behind. Public schools, was approved by overwhelming bipartisan
majorities in Congress.

Accountability for Results: Create strict standards in each State for what each
child should know and learn about reading and mathematics in grades 3-8. Each
child's progress and achievements will be determined each year.

The results of these tests will be disseminated through annual report cards so that
parents can quantify school performance and progress across the state.

Each local school district and all 50 states will be given the freedom to
allocate up to 50% of federal funds.

Implements the reading-first initiative to foster language development,

reading and writing skills, and pre-reading attitudes among preschool-aged children
in low-income families.

Problem services: For the first time, federal funds under Title I can be used to
provide educational services such as tutoring and summer school programs.

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[13]
SIMILARITIES OF THE VENEZUELAN AND US EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE VENEZUELAN

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND THE UNITED STATES

Education encompasses several subsystems

Education is funded by the government

There are laws that protect students

The educational system is based on excellent planning

Educational policy is oriented towards improving

educational quality
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Delors (1996). Education contains a treasure (1996) UNESCO

Structure of the Educational System in the United States [Online document].

(2005) Available:
http://www.dgb.sep.gob.mx/tramites/revalidacion/Estrucsist_edu/EstudESTADOS_U
NIDOS.pdf Consulted in April 2014.

Ministry of Education of Venezuela, - NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL

SYSTEMS: VENEZUELA - Organization of Ibero-American states for Education,
Science and Culture. 1996.

Organic Law of Education. Online text. Available at:

http://www.me.gob.ve/ley_organica.pdf . Accessed March 2014.

United States Education Report for UNESCO, 1999. Profiles of national.

reports of educational systems. UNESCO: IBE Online document, available at:
www.ibe.unesco.org/ consulted March 2014

Spanish and American Educational Systems [Online document] (2011). IES

Three. Available: https://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/es/file/sfl/compare.pdf . [Accessed
March 2014.

Stevenson, D.K. (1992). American Life and Institutions. USIA. Washington.

D.C.