Half of all schoolchildren in oil-rich Venezuela are receiving less than three meals a day. The country is in economic crisis, with severe food shortages.
That's making it difficult for some children to go to school, and difficult for those who go to focus on their studies.
Our Latin American Correspondent Juan Carlos Lamas reports from Caracas.
Our Latin American Correspondent Juan Carlos Lamas reports from Caracas.
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As the school year begins in Venezuela, and students across the country settle into their new classrooms, they’re grappling with a subject that’s not part of the usual curriculum. In addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, these students are learning first hand about hunger. One child in 10 only eats one meal a day.
Teachers Roger Torres and Jorge Pena say for many of their students, it’s even worse.
SOT1. Roger Torres, Special Education Teacher ( IN SPANISH, W ENGLISH TRANS).
"As an assignment, I asked my students to draw what they wanted most in life and then to tell the class about it.. One student stood up and told me he had drawn a hamburger, because he hadn't eaten anything in days."
SOT2. Jorge Peña, Music Teacher. (IN SPANISH, W ENGLISH TRANS).
"In one of my singing classes I realized one of my students was turning really pale, when I walked towards him his eyes and lips were completely white. He told me he hadn't eaten for three days// I gave him the only food I had for my self that day".
VO2 Many schools are reporting unusually high absentee rates….both from teachers and students.
Venezuelans must stand in line for hours to get into grocery stores to purchase subsidized food, leaving those who can’t afford the prices to sift through rubbish bins for edible garbage.
School Program Coordinator Maria Garcia Di Marco says many children are staying home from school to help their families put food on the table.
SOT3. Maria Gracia Di Marco, School Program Coordinator. ( IN SPANISH, W ENGLISH TRANS).
"Children shouldn’t have to live like this ---instead of going to school, they’re joining their parents in the queue to buy food.."
VO3
Studies show hunger can have long-term effects on a child’s ability to learn. Children who are hungry are more likely to have problems with memory and concentration…Something first grade teacher Evelyn Hernandez has noticed already in the first couple of weeks of school this year. She’s a teacher with children of her own.
SOT4. Evelyn Hernandez, Teacher. ( IN SPANISH, W ENGLISH TRANS ).
"I don't eat breakfast or dinner, I only eat my lunch so my son and daughter can have something to eat during the day. It's a big sacrifice."
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In these troubled times children are learning to share, and parents are facing extremely difficult choices…with families taking the money they would ordinarily spend transporting their children to school or buying school supplies, and spending it instead on groceries.