Hugo Chávez's higher education legacy

The late Hugo Chávez was in power in Venezuela for a rather long time – 1999 to 2013 – and he tried to introduce many changes in higher education. However, there were some changes he did not manage to make.

In 1830, universities were nationalised. Then, in 1953, the private sector was allowed to participate in the academic market. In 1958, democratic forces took power and the university system was expanded and modernised.

Of course, the Chávez Bolivarian revolution intended to change all that. He ran out of time, however, and the higher education system remains in 2013 much like the one he inherited in 1999.

While the structure and organisation of higher education have not changed, in 1999 the state (that is, public) universities had 510,917 students and in 2011, 1,132,306; the private sector had 299,664 students in 1999 and 555,198 in 2011. Yet the growth of state institutions has slowed down in the past three years.

The higher education system in Venezuela did not begin and will not end with him, but Chávez did leave a legacy to the system. He opened two universities that are now the largest in the country – opening access to thousands of students who otherwise would not have entered higher education.

Partly, previous lack of access was due to a lack of the required qualifications; but also among poorer students there was a lack of expectation that entering higher education and earning professional degrees was a possibility.

The expansion under Chávez followed the Cuban model of the munipalización of universities, with full control by the state, in this case eliminating the role of autonomous universities.

Chávez's vision of universities fell strictly within the framework of the revolution. Thus, he established the two universities with a Marxist-doctrinarian approach, which prevented them from offering a full range of knowledge to students.

Modernisation

In 1958, the Venezuelan higher education system established modern characteristics of autonomy, democratic governance, professionalisation of academic staff, the existence of many diverse institutions and wider participation, with universities responding to social demands. The higher education system expanded across the country.

In 1990, Venezuela started work on a general plan to identify and finance scientific research, and graduate studies began to be offered in several state institutions. In the four decades between 1958 and the coming to power of Chávez in 1999, the system successfully turned out political leaders and professionals at all levels and played its part in creating and legitimating the middle-class.

However, the system was inefficient and could not meet growing demand. Despite training, there were no research universities set up, although these were being established throughout Latin America.

The higher education system

Chávez inherited higher education based on a well-established and diversified system, with universities and other institutions meeting the needs of society and with both the state and the private sector providing a good service to society. However, there were major flaws in the system too, which he overlooked.

In 1975, the state launched a vast programme that provided scholarships for university students to study abroad. Thousands of Venezuelan students were sent to Europe and the United States, not all of them returning with their professional degrees.

This was done instead of strengthening the quality of local universities and hiring the necessary academic staff from abroad. Chávez committed a similar error when he sent thousands of students to Cuba. Despite all the rhetoric about his political and ideological revolution, Chávez left the higher education system mainly unchanged. He applied policies to expand access and tried to follow to the letter the Cuban model of the university – with absolute state control.

Universities under his government's control became institutions dedicated to training students based on the values of the revolution rather than professionals trained for the market. Managed according to strict doctrinarian lines of thought, the universities were to be run not just by members of staff and students but also in collaboration with administrative employees and manual workers.

Instead of trying to issue policies that would be applied to all universities, Chávez created new institutions dedicated to the needs of the revolution, not of society. He left the conventional system to operate but introduced his own sector.

Quality and the future

The Venezuelan higher education system exhibits an inability to make advances necessary for boosting quality, which are the goals of higher education systems in many countries and institutions.

Data provided by both the Shanghai and the Times Higher Education university rankings show that Venezuelan universities are lagging behind those in most countries of the region. The revolution tried to create its own socialist vision, isolated from the international flow of knowledge, which is obtained via globalisation and internationalisation.

As for the future, the evolution of the higher education system depends on the political as well as the economic situation. If Chávez’s successors had been able to remain in power, regulation would have been accelerated and the state would have taken full control of higher education.

The fact is, however, that the years of government financial largesse during Chávez's rule are over. Venezuela is about to enter a period of cutbacks, which will cause conflicts at universities.

Of course, most systems tend to work well when funds are available without restriction and that includes the academic system, and there is plenty of room for reforms that could put universities back on track.

Closing the Venezuelan mind

Chavez’s achievements in higher education were modest in practice and greatly exaggerated by government propaganda. The damage to autonomous universities and to the academic development of Venezuela, however, is serious.

Due to a lack of public support and a misunderstanding about the role of higher education in society, steps were taken by the now-deceased leader during his 15 years in power that both expanded student access and closed the Venezuelan mind.

* Orlando Albornoz is a professor at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. Email: oalborno@reacciun.ve. This is an edited version of his article "Venezuela's Higher Education Legacy under Chavez", in the autumn edition of International Higher Education.