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Venezeuelan children at a school in the capital Caracas

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By Alexandra Ulmer (Reuters)

Mariangel Caceres鈥� teachers, whose salaries do not buy enough food to live on, stopped showing up for classes early this year.

The state school in the verdant Andean state of Tachira in听Venezuela also had to cut back on providing meals due to听nationwide food shortages.

So when the leftist government in April decreed Friday听school closings to save electricity, it was the last straw.

鈥淚 left school a week after Easter,鈥� said Caceres, a听sports-loving 13-year-old who now spends her days travelling to听neighbouring Colombia with her mother to buy flour, rice or sugar听they can no longer find or afford at home.

While Caceres hopes to enroll again in the next school year,听she may find the oil-rich nation鈥檚 economic crisis makes that听difficult.

Education is no longer a priority for many poor and听middle-class Venezuelans who are swept up in the all-consuming听quest for food amid a wave of looting and riots.

Between 30% and 40% of Venezuelan teachers听fail to show up at school each day, mainly because they are听standing in lines for food or medicine, their biggest union听estimates.

Pupils鈥� attendance is also dropping because children have听not eaten, know there will be no food at school, or must line up听and help their parents shop, according to the union.

Frequent power and water cuts are disrupting classes, and听schools have been closed on Fridays for about the last two听months.

鈥淎 year interrupted like this cannot be recovered,鈥� said听Tulio Ramirez, an education expert at Venezuela鈥檚 Central听University. 鈥淭hese kids are growing up with an educational听deficit.鈥�

Native children in class at the Esperanza multi-ethnical school at Puerto Ayacucho in the state of Amazonas

Ramirez himself cannot afford new shoes on a salary worth听about $50 a month at the black market currency rate.

Supporters of the government accuse opponents of听exaggerating social problems as part of a campaign to undermine听socialism in Venezuela.

They point to a 16% rise in the enrollment听rate, increased literacy and funding increases during the听1999-2013 administration of former President Hugo Chavez, who听declared education a priority for his self-styled 鈥渂eautiful听revolution.鈥�

Under successor Nicolas Maduro, however, social gains have听fast evaporated during a brutal recession exacerbated by a drop听in oil prices, critics say.

They cite insufficient funding for schools and a lack of听qualified teachers due to low salaries or emigration.

Venezuela has released little hard data in recent times and听does not participate in the globally recognised Programme in听International Student Assessment tests, so it is hard to gauge听the state of education with statistical precision.

The country鈥檚 Education and Information ministries did not听respond to requests for comment.

The decline of Venezuela, which has the world鈥檚 largest oil reserves, is reflected in the fortunes of state school Monsenor Marco Tulio Ramirez Roa in La Fria near the Colombian border.

The aging building was destroyed in 2013 to make way for a听new one, but runaway inflation, bureaucratic delays and听shortages of materials halted construction, according to the听school鈥檚 administration.听

Authorities offered no alternative space for the nearly 300听pupils, the administration said, so classes have been scattered听in nearby communal houses, a room above a now-empty state food听store, and even an employee鈥檚 hot, narrow garage.

Students in the state of Portuguesa听 Picture: Venezuela Foreign Affairs Ministry

Now the classrooms struggle with frequent blackouts and听water cuts. The school can no longer provide two meals a day.

鈥淭he situation is really severe,鈥� said mother-of-five听Josefina Molina after her children were let out at midday听because there was no lunch. 鈥淭his is making us go crazy.鈥�

As Molina had no food, either, her five-year-old son Yasir was听plucking fruit from a tree outside their house.

The hard times threaten to widen educational inequality.听Some private schools have discreetly stayed open on Fridays and听retained teachers by bumping up their salaries, but public听schools have no such options.

Fellow La Fria parent Sharon Roa, 27, said she often kept听her children at home because soap shortages and water cuts make听it impossible for her to clean their uniforms.

Last year, Ever Mejias, 14, quit school, where art was his听favourite subject, to pack ice in a factory and help out his听family.

Educators are also jumping ship. Mathematics teacher Douglas Mena, 32, stopped giving morning classes in March because he made twice as much money fishing in Venezuela鈥檚 vast Maracaibo Lake.

鈥淚鈥檓 not the only one,鈥� he said after a recent shift. 鈥淭here听are many of us who have started re-selling goods on the informal听market, baking cakes, cleaning houses, anything.鈥�

Many professionals across Venezuela have turned to such jobs听to hedge against inflation and make it easier to line up for听food.

But supermarket lines can stretch into the thousands, and听re-sale prices have skyrocketed, so many are getting by on听mangoes and starch, or skipping meals altogether.

鈥淚鈥檝e opened my eyes,鈥� said Edgar Barrios, 38, a former听鈥淐havista鈥� in La Fria who for three years has allowed a Monsenor听Marco Tulio Ramirez Roa class to assemble in his garage. 鈥淚鈥檓 disappointed with the life we have now.鈥�

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