Empty classrooms and tented lessons as quake-hit Venezuelan schools reopen

LA GUAIRA, September 16 - Schools in Venezuela's quake-affected coastal state of La Guaira were empty on the first day of the new academic year, with many parents wary of sending their children back to school due to concerns over potential aftershocks. La Guaira, a coastal city north of Caracas, was hit by a series of powerful earthquakes on June 24, resulting in over 6,500 fatalities and causing significant damage to numerous schools.

Dozens of schools were destroyed or severely damaged, while 60 were converted into emergency shelters for the thousands of people displaced by the disasters.

In some regions, classes are now taking place under makeshift tents. At one such tented school, a teacher, María Herrera, engaged 14 students in a discussion about managing their emotions, acknowledging that the trauma of the earthquakes still weighed heavily on their minds. Many parents chose to keep their children at home, fearing another calamity.

John Paul II Diocesan Educational Unit, one of the few schools open in the port city, had just over 300 students enrolled for the new school year, despite having a capacity for more than double that number. Only seven students turned up on the first day of classes.

Principal Marco Antonio Espinoza assured that the return to school would be a gradual and safe process, with a primary focus on addressing the emotional well-being of both students and staff. Yanet Dominguez, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, explained that parents had been asking about the structural safety of the building, to which she replied that improvements had been made this year.

Industrial engineer Amni Nunez had permitted his young children to return to school, emphasizing the need for them to understand that life must continue despite the new reality.