UCAB lives up to promise with Carnival classes ... anti-Chavist teachers chicken out! 

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB) and the Metropolitan University are the only universities that kept their promise to recover classes lost during the two-month national stoppage during the Carnival holiday.

Attendance Monday at UCAB’s Faculties of Education, Media Studies and Engineering was around 100%, while 50% of law students preferred to stay away and enjoy the holiday break.

Private and public secondary schools did not open either.

Venezuelan Teachers Federation president Jaime Manzo failed to live up to his promise to recommend union members to show President Hugo Chavez Frias how determined they were and recover classes during the weekends and holidays. As expected and true to form, teachers opted out of their pledge to turn up for classes during Carnival.

One critic says he is disappointed ... "anti-Chavists failed to gain political and moral capital, while pro-Chavist teachers show they are just as mercenary as their colleagues."