Another absent school term for Venezuelan migrant children

THE opening of the new academic school year was pushed back by a week to September 8, but for many Venezuelan migrants this extra week has done little to address the uncertainty surrounding the education of their children.

New Minister of Education Dr Michael Dowlath has not made any announcement about the inclusion of Venezuelan children in public schools, even though last year only 23 were able to enter the education system.

In 2022, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar – then Opposition Leader – called for opening the doors of the education system to all migrant children.

“Let Venezuelan children go to school… Every child has the right to an education… Any migrant child in TT, no matter nationality, should be allowed to enter kindergarten, primary, secondary school come September,” she said.

However, Persad-Bissessar has made no new statements on the matter, but has promised to reveal a "fair" government policy on migrants.

On August 14, at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, she said there will be no mass deportation of migrants. She said the government was about to announce an orderly and fair plan for Venezuelan migrants.

However, Venezuelan migrants have expressed exasperation over the situation ans they told Newsday they have pleaded their case to several institutions without getting a solution. At some schools they are told there is no space for their children, while others say spaces depend on approval from the Ministry of Education.

Some migrant children also depend on the Ministry of Homeland Security for the granting of student visas.

Alejandra Rodriguez, mother of an ten-year-old girl, said she visited two schools in Chaguanas but was blanked.

“They told me the lists are closed. No spaces available," she said.

"I even went to the Ministry of Education and they just told me to wait, but with no date. My daughter already lost several full years without studying.”

Luis Fernando Lira, father of a seven-year-old girl, said the lack of answers is affecting his daughter’s emotionally.

“She dreams of wearing a uniform and sharing (time) with classmates. Every time I ask, they say they will check, but no one confirms anything.

"My daughter asks me every day if this year she will finally be able to go back to class. She came with me in 2018, and we have legal work permits here. I don’t understand why they block her education,” he said.

For Yelitza Carvajal, mother of two school-aged children, the wait has become disappointing.

“They called me to a Couva district office and made me fill out forms. Then they said I needed a translated birth certificate and up-to-date vaccines. I got everything, but when I returned they told me there were no more spaces.

"I don’t understand how they expect children to remain without studying.”

The migrant parents insist that the silence of the authorities deepens the exclusion.

“The children can’t wait any longer. Every day out of school is a denied right,” Rodriguez said.

A statement from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UNICEF on August 30, 2024, said there were about 6,000 school-aged children in TT with no access to education.

Later, the government together with the Catholic Education Board of Management (CEBM) opened a few spaces for migrant children whose parents had been in the work registry since 2019. Only 23 children managed to get into schools.

Newsday attempted to contact Education Minister Dr. Michael Dowlath and the Catholic Education Board of Management (CEBM) to find out if there are any plans for more migrant children to enter the schools in the new term, but calls and messages were not returned up to publication.