Facade of the headquarters of the Association of Professors of the Central University of Venezuela (Apucv), located in the University City of Caracas: Photo: IPPUCV/APUCV Website
Guacamaya, July 10, 2025. The Central University of Venezuela (UCV) is facing a deep crisis that threatens its academic quality. The president of the institution’s Professors’ Association (Apucv), José Gregorio Alfonso, stated that up to half of the faculty has resigned in recent months, mainly due to low salaries and the lack of dignified working conditions.
The institution, which is the top university in the country and ranked twenty-sixth in Latin America according to the QS World University Ranking 2026, suffers an alarming faculty exodus estimated between 44% and 50%, according to Apucv figures. In statements to Unión Radio, José Gregorio Alfonso said this situation cannot be considered normal or acceptable.
“It is not possible to normalize what is wrong. This situation is not right, nor is it new. Perhaps when there is some change, it will be closer to worsening what we have than to starting a path of improvement,” he expressed. According to the union leader, not only is the quality of teaching affected, but also the continuity of essential educational programs and projects.
The teaching staff’s demand is a fair salary valuation that reflects the current cost of living and allows retaining talent within the public university system, which is subsidized by the Venezuelan State. “We have reiterated for several years our demand that university work be valued because, in the end, we are not claiming a privilege,” Alfonso added.
In this regard, he explained that since 2022 there has been no adjustment to the salary scale, in contrast to the increase in inflation and the cost of the family food basket. These labor conditions have generated a massive exodus to other sectors or abroad, where opportunities are better and incomes more dignified.
“We have three monthly remunerations. One in bolívares and immovable, which is the base salary, ranging from 130 bolívares for grade 1 workers to 522 bolívares for full professors with exclusive dedication and 25 years of teaching career,” he indicated. Added to this are 120 dollars in bolívares from the so-called “bonus against the economic war” and a food bonus equivalent to 40 dollars.
Alfonso highlighted that bonuses are assigned uniformly, without considering hierarchy, seniority, functions, or responsibilities. This fact is a faithful reflection of structural problems in the public sector in the country, where constant salary depreciation and lack of investment have deteriorated services and institutional capacities.
The Central University of Venezuela, despite being constituted as an autonomous institution, depends financially on the State, which is why it does not escape the local reality. The talent drain, which threatens educational quality and the implementation of research, innovation, development, and growth, urgently requires the implementation of effective measures to reverse the trend.
