Public Policies, Education and Social Welfare in Venezuela

With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in 1999, important elements representative of the demand for changes in the State-Society relationship were defined; they are demonstrated in the constitutional recognition and treatment bestowed on social rights and the definition of the political model, based on constructing citizenship with social content. These changes focus reflection on the definition and delimitation of the nature, content and scope of social policy, understood in its necessary relations with the notion of social well-being. This work assumes the social well-being concept from the perspective that, in Venezuela, this includes all actions that, within the special constitutional design, frame State/Society relationships and are carried out to train and prepare citizens and achieve the necessary tutelage and guarantee on the part of the State in the exercise of their social rights, emphasizing especially those policies designed and implemented in the area of education. This thematic delimitation responds to the transcendent role that the constitutional text recognizes for education as a fundamental instrument for achieving the State's essential ends, among which, "the promotion of prosperity and well-being of the people" (Article 3 C.R.B.V 1999) stands out. This work, beginning with a documentary review, has the objective of describing and analyzing the characteristics of educational policies in Venezuela and the official social well-being indicators, from the promulgation of the Constitution of 1999 until 2005; it concludes with some tendencies that are visualized according to the particularities of the period analyzed.