Chavez vows to close or take over private schools

[John Dibble]

Chavez vows to close or take over private schools resisting Venezuelan government oversight
The Associated PressPublished: September 17, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to take over any private schools refusing to submit to the oversight of his socialist government, a move some Venezuelans fear will impose leftist ideology in the classroom.

All Venezuelan schools, both public and private, must submit to state inspectors enforcing the new educational system. Those that refuse will be closed and nationalized, Chavez said.

A new curriculum will be phased in during this school year, and new textbooks are being developed to help educate "the new citizen," added Chavez's brother and education minister, Adan Chavez, in their televised ceremony on the first day of classes.

Just what the curriculum will include and how it will be applied to all Venezuelan schools and universities remains unclear.

But one college-level syllabus obtained by The Associated Press shows some premedical students already have a recommended reading list including Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" and Fidel Castro's speeches, alongside traditional subjects like biology and chemistry.

The syllabus also includes quotations from Chavez and urges students to learn about slain revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Colombian rebel chief Manuel Marulanda, whose leftist guerrillas are considered a terrorist group by Colombia, the U.S. and European Union.

Venezuelan officials defend the program at the Latin American Medical School — one in a handful of state-run colleges and universities that emphasize socialist ideology — as the new direction of Venezuelan higher education.

"We must train socially minded people to help the community, and that's why the revolution's socialist program is being implemented," said Zulay Campos, a member of a Bolivarian State Academic Commission that evaluates compliance with academic guidelines.

"If they attack us because we're indoctrinating, well yes, we're doing it, because those capitalist ideas that our young people have — and that have done so much damage to our people — must be eliminated," Campos said.

Now some critics worry that primary and secondary schoolchildren will be indoctrinated as well.

Continued...


How anyone can keep defending Chavez is beyond me.

[Erc]

Compared to some of the other stuff he's done, this is pretty tame on the face of it.

But it's still not good.


Would this apply to parochial schools, as well?  Because that could piss off a few people, I bet.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Why do people still defend Chavez? Isn't it obvious that he's another Castro?

[opebo]

He's only attempting to reduce privilege, fellows.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

[Gabu]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

[opebo]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

Haha, that accurately describes the US school system, gabu.

[afleitch]

Nothing to write home about really - socialists of all creeds have being trying to do that for years.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

But hey if the Democrats support it...

[??????????]

Nothing to write home about really - socialists of all creeds have being trying to do that for years.

Thats why socialists are a threat to any freedom loving society.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Nothing to write home about really - socialists of all creeds have being trying to do that for years.

Thats why socialists are a threat to any freedom loving society.

If by "Socialists" you mean "Statists" then yeah.. though if you do mean I'm curious about your worship of Richard Nixon in the other thread.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

In Venezuela, it is the country's leader that wants to indoctrinate the children with garbage.  In the U.S., it's zealot fundie soccer moms that would have book burnings and indoctrinate children with garbage.  Same sh**t, different pile.

[Colin]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

In Venezuela, it is the country's leader that wants to indoctrinate the children with garbage.  In the U.S., it's zealot fundie soccer moms that would have book burnings and indoctrinate children with garbage.  Same sh**t, different pile.

Well soccer moms, however horrible they are, cannot lock me up for dissenting or shut down the television station that disagrees with them or rewrite the constitution to keep them in power or are in control of the military, so no it's not the same.

[Gabu]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

In Venezuela, it is the country's leader that wants to indoctrinate the children with garbage.  In the U.S., it's zealot fundie soccer moms that would have book burnings and indoctrinate children with garbage.  Same sh**t, different pile.

The fact that one occurs does not justify the other.

[John Dibble]

I support this. I supported Chavez altogether until he interfered with alcohol sales, now I oppose him because of that.

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

In Venezuela, it is the country's leader that wants to indoctrinate the children with garbage.  In the U.S., it's zealot fundie soccer moms that would have book burnings and indoctrinate children with garbage.  Same sh**t, different pile.

The fact that one occurs does not justify the other.

Not to mention that in our s**t pile the non-fundies can contest things in court among other things. Do you think Venezuelan parents will get that right?

[David S]

Chavez is clearly a communist dictator.

[??????????]

Nothing to write home about really - socialists of all creeds have being trying to do that for years.

Thats why socialists are a threat to any freedom loving society.

If by "Socialists" you mean "Statists" then yeah.. though if you do mean I'm curious about your worship of Richard Nixon in the other thread.

No, I mean socialists as in left wingers/liberals, such as a more extreme version of you.

[Gabu]

No, I mean socialists as in left wingers/liberals, such as a more extreme version of you.

All liberals support indoctrinating every child into their belief system?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Would this apply to parochial schools, as well?

One can hope so.

Too bad it doesn't also apply to private schools in the United States. Then maybe the liars who ran my high school would be out of a job.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

What do you think the United States school system does?

[Gabu]

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

What do you think the United States school system does?

Is it just me, or has there been a noted increase lately of arguments of the form "X does Y, so it's okay for Z to do Y too"?

[Ban my account ffs!]

Chavez is clearly a communist dictator.

THe more and more I hear about Chavez, the more I don't like him. 

His dictatorial tendencies have shone through strong in the past year.

[John Dibble]

You support a school system that is openly and specifically geared to train students to be mindlessly supportive of a country's government?

What do you think the United States school system does?

Is it just me, or has there been a noted increase lately of arguments of the form "X does Y, so it's okay for Z to do Y too"?

It's not just you. People seem to forget that two wrongs don't make a right.

[Silent Hunter]

It's not just you. People seem to forget that two wrongs don't make a right.

Concur. "He started it" is not an excuse for anything.

[??????????]

No, I mean socialists as in left wingers/liberals, such as a more extreme version of you.

All liberals support indoctrinating every child into their belief system?

Yep, that's why they are strong proponents of a secular school system. Politics is all about indoctrination and where better to start then with children.