When he grows up, Ángel wants to become a soccer player. But now, at 11 years old, he is scoring goals in his education. With the support of NRC’s programmes in Venezuela, he has overcome learning barriers, while his school has almost doubled its enrolment rate.
Ángel scores academic goals
On the soccer pitch, Ángel is skilled in playing central defence. In the classroom, he skilfully tackles maths, his favourite subject, and reading, thanks to our school levelling programme.
The programme is based on the national curriculum and equips teachers with techniques to help bolster learning for school-aged children facing academic challenges. Students undergo assessments at the beginning and at the end of the programme to measure progress. The aim of our education programme in Venezuela is to ensure that children have access to and remain in school and maintain their overall wellbeing.
Thanks to EU Humanitarian Aid, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) contributed to the training of 18 teachers at the school where Ángel and 400 other children attend in Maracaibo, the capital city of Zulia state, near the border with Colombia.
“The levelling has been very useful for Ángel because we have been here [in Venezuela] and we have been there [in Colombia], and he has been distracted,” says Ángel’s mother, Nataly.
Due to the economic situation in Venezuela, the family of seven decided to try their luck in neighbouring Colombia. “It did not go that well, which is why we came back,” Nataly elaborates.
Government data indicates that by 2023, about 900,000 Venezuelans had returned home. Many faced challenges integrating in their host countries, although it is complicated to ascertain how many actually remained. Movements of Venezuelans back and forth along the border areas with Colombia are expected to continue through 2024, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
According to the United Nations, seven million people in Venezuela currently need humanitarian assistance. In 2023, NRC supported over 53,000 people through our programmes, including 10,200 teachers and students in Bolívar, Táchira and Zulia states.
On the soccer pitch, Ángel is skilled in playing central defence. In the classroom, he skilfully tackles maths, his favourite subject, and reading, thanks to our school levelling programme.
The programme is based on the national curriculum and equips teachers with techniques to help bolster learning for school-aged children facing academic challenges. Students undergo assessments at the beginning and at the end of the programme to measure progress. The aim of our education programme in Venezuela is to ensure that children have access to and remain in school and maintain their overall wellbeing.
Thanks to EU Humanitarian Aid, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) contributed to the training of 18 teachers at the school where Ángel and 400 other children attend in Maracaibo, the capital city of Zulia state, near the border with Colombia.
“The levelling has been very useful for Ángel because we have been here [in Venezuela] and we have been there [in Colombia], and he has been distracted,” says Ángel’s mother, Nataly.
Due to the economic situation in Venezuela, the family of seven decided to try their luck in neighbouring Colombia. “It did not go that well, which is why we came back,” Nataly elaborates.
Government data indicates that by 2023, about 900,000 Venezuelans had returned home. Many faced challenges integrating in their host countries, although it is complicated to ascertain how many actually remained. Movements of Venezuelans back and forth along the border areas with Colombia are expected to continue through 2024, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Motivation and reintegration
The family’s move to Colombia and back also affected Jeisber, Nataly’s second son, who is 15 years old. When he returned to Maracaibo, he enrolled in his brother’s school as one of 36 girls and boys participating in NRC’s school motivation programme.
This second programme equips teachers with techniques to motivate out-of-school children and adolescents. It aims to enhance students’ learning abilities and enable them to access education for the first time or reintegrate into the school system if they have previously dropped out.
Edilberto, one of the teachers leading the school motivation programme, proudly says that all participants in his group have been successfully integrated in Venezuela’s education system. NRC provided the children with essential learning tools like backpacks, pencils and coloured pencils, and notebooks.
Education is life
We support teachers like Edilberto with information on education in emergencies, risk management in schools and how to improve learning by managing students’ stress levels.
Ángel is a fan of the Venezuelan national soccer team, known as Vinotinto. Now he is also a fan of attending and remaining in school. Nataly motivates her son by telling him these three words: “Education is life.”
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