Héctor Rodríguez: We need to change the way sports talent schools work

Published at: 14/11/2025 12:41 PM

A sports talent school is not a school that works the same as the others, but rather it is an institution that must guarantee the highest academic level training for children and young people, said Education Minister Héctor Rodríguez.

During the flag ceremony for the Venezuelan delegation that will attend the Lima - Ayacucho 2025 Bolivarian Games, held at the National Theater of Caracas, Rodríguez emphasized that student-athletes cannot be faced with the choice between sport and study, so the State must guarantee the conditions for them to be “the best athlete and the best student”.

“We have to completely change the way sports talent schools work, they don't serve the way they are working, they are not sports talent schools for athletes. If you are a high-performance athlete, because that's what you go to sports talent schools, you have a dynamic of training and competition that doesn't adapt to the normal school schedule, it doesn't adapt, and then the administration, not the academy because it has no academic logic, tells the athlete: either you study or you play sports,” he explained.

The vice-president for the Social Area also asked in this context to study how to better adapt the education system for children and young people who also play high-performance sports, so that “the next school year the necessary changes will be made”.

Rodríguez commented that in every state there is at least one sports talent school and all of them “have to change radically.”

For this task, according to a press release from the Vice Presidency, he urged the formation of a commission that will include, among others, the Minister of Sport, Franklin Cardillo; the president of the Venezuelan Olympic Committee, María Soto, and the Deputy Minister of Education, Alejandro López, who should consult with athletes, physical education teachers, directors and experts in the field.

Mazo News Team