Voltaire 5,505 Posted September 17, 2007 Venezuela's Chavez Warns Private Schools By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: September 17, 2007 Filed at 12:52 p.m. ET CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to close or take over any private school that refuses to submit to the oversight of his socialist government as it develops a new curriculum and textbooks. ''Society cannot allow the private sector to do whatever it wants,'' said Chavez, speaking on the first day of classes. All schools, public and private, must admit state inspectors and submit to the government's new educational system, or be closed and nationalized, with the state taking responsibility for the education of their children, Chavez said. A new curriculum will be ready by the end of this school year, and new textbooks are being developed to help educate ''the new citizen,'' said Chavez's brother and education minister Adan Chavez, who joined him a televised ceremony at the opening of a public school in the eastern town of El Tigre. The president's opponents accuse him of aiming to indoctrinate young Venezuelans with socialist ideology. But the education minister said the aim is to develop ''critical thinking,'' not to impose a single way of thought. --------------------- He takes over private companies, he takes over the news media, he takes over the schools... this guy insists on being the center of his own little universe. He's dedicated that entire country to kissing his ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
