Deteriorating School Feeding Program Deepens Educational Exclusion in Venezuela

Venezuela's once-vital School Feeding Program (PAE) is in a state of profound crisis, significantly deepening educational exclusion for millions of children. Originally established in 1996 to ensure daily, balanced meals for public school students, the program now suffers from severe shortcomings in coverage, frequency, and nutritional quality.

While official government statements suggest the PAE maintains wide and expanding coverage, independent research paints a starkly different picture. Data from the National Survey of Living Conditions (Encovi) 2025 reveals that a mere 29% of program beneficiaries receive food every single day. A significant majority, 59%, report that meals are provided only on certain days of the week, and a further 11% state that the service is almost never operational.

This breakdown of the PAE means that for countless Venezuelan children, school is no longer just a place of learning but also their only reliable source of daily sustenance. The program's failure to deliver on its promise leaves students vulnerable to hunger, impacting their ability to concentrate and learn, and exacerbating the broader challenges of economic hardship and food insecurity gripping the nation.