Venezuelan Teachers Struggle to Survive on $15 a Month

CARACAS, Feb 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) – With a monthly salary of just $15, teachers in Venezuela struggle to afford even basic necessities, let alone rent or medicine.

Many educators in the crisis-hit nation juggle multiple jobs or rely on family support to make ends meet. Thousands have emigrated in search of financial stability.

"For the past two years, the situation has been horrible; you can't even buy shoes," said Maria Cerezo, a 70-year-old teacher who has worked in the public sector for 39 years. Speaking at a thrift shop in Caracas, she carefully picked out a $2 blue nylon dress with white polka dots and tucked it away.

"I’ll get it tomorrow, God willing, because I don’t have the money today," she said.

Cerezo recalls a time when teachers could afford clothes, shoes, and even appliances with their yearly bonuses. Today, that’s a distant memory.

A basic food basket for a family of four in Venezuela costs about $500 a month, a staggering 33 times a teacher’s salary.

To make ends meet, Cerezo’s household depends on the combined income of her daughter—also a teacher—and her husband, a lawyer.

A Crumbling Education System

Over a decade of economic decline under President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s GDP has plummeted by 80 percent, forcing over eight million people—one-quarter of the population—to leave the country.

Despite their dire wages, public school teachers are not the worst off. The country’s minimum salary is a mere $2 a month, supplemented by government subsidies. In contrast, the private sector offers an average monthly income of $200.

With wages so low, many schools now operate only two to three days a week to allow teachers time for side jobs—tutoring, driving taxis, or selling crafts.

Venezuela faces a shortage of 200,000 teachers, and enrollment in teacher training programs has dropped by nearly 90 percent.

A Thrift Store Lifeline

For those still in the profession, the El Ropero Solidario thrift shop in Caracas provides some relief. Managed by Kethy Mendoza, 64, and supported by the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, the store sells secondhand clothes donated by educators. Half of the sales revenue goes to the seller, while the rest helps sustain the shop.

The store also provides aid for medicines, food, and emergency hospital care for teachers in need.

"We are role models for the children," Mendoza explained. "If we go to school poorly dressed because we can’t afford proper clothes or shoes, how can we expect students to come looking presentable?"

The Blame Game

Following his controversial reelection in July 2024, which the opposition and much of the international community have denounced as fraudulent, Maduro insists that low salaries are due to international sanctions.

However, experts argue that economic mismanagement and corruption in the oil-rich country are the true causes of Venezuela’s deepening crisis.