Basic education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Secondary education, which lasts for 2 years, is also free but not required. More than nine-tenths of Venezuelans age 15 and older are literate. The vast majority of Venezuelan children are enrolled in school, but nearly half the adults have no secondary education and a large number have no formal schooling. Most middle- and upper-class parents send their children to private elementary and secondary schools.

The number of institutions of higher education expanded rapidly in the latter part of the 20th century. Higher education is provided by private and public institutions, and approximately one-fourth of secondary school graduates attend them. Caracas is an educational centre with several notable universities, including the Central University of Venezuela (founded in 1721) and the National Open University (1977). Among the more prominent state schools are the University of Zulia (1946), the University of Carabobo (1852), and the University of the Andes (1810) in Mérida.

Modernization and urbanization in the 20th century brought considerable improvement in the educational system; however, the economic difficulties of the 1980s and ’90s and government mismanagement damaged the system. Although Venezuela greatly increased education spending in the latter part of the 20th century, nearly half the money allocated was spent on universities, while primary and secondary schools suffered from poorly trained teachers and high student dropout rates. In addition, students received on average only half the mandated days of instruction because of vacation days and time lost to strikes. In an attempt to remedy these problems, the government began to restructure the educational system in the late 1990s.

Health and welfare

The government greatly expanded health and welfare services during the 1970s, particularly in the cities. Both public (free) and private medical assistance were made available. The Ministry of Health is responsible for organizing and staffing the public hospitals and rural medical centres. Even before the onset of the economic crisis that began in 2015, the ministry had to dealt with numerous budgetary and management problems, including physician strikes and poorly maintained hospitals. Similarly, the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security, which offered medical and welfare assistance to urban workers and employees, also experienced difficulties, including large deficits, in advance of the crippling of the health care system that resulted from the economic collapse. In the area of housing, the metropolitan authorities have been unable to meet the needs of the urban poor. The problems of the ranchos persist, as public housing schemes mainly meet the needs of middle-income groups while largely leaving poorer urbanites to find employment and housing on their own.

Daily life

As Venezuelans moved from the countryside to the cities, they developed a modern urban lifestyle; large middle-class neighbourhoods developed alongside burgeoning poor ranchos. Many middle- and upper-class Venezuelans acquired wealth from oil in the 1950s–70s, which enabled them to travel easily, especially to the United States, and to own cars and houses. The economic downturn since the 1980s has interrupted that easy lifestyle, however, and poverty has grown.

In Venezuela the admixture of African, European, and indigenous cultural traditions is often called criollo (“Creole”), although that term in most Latin American contexts denotes people of European ancestry. Venezuelans boast criollo foods, dances, and, especially, music. National foods include arepa (a cornmeal bread) and hallaca (sweet cornmeal dough cooked in banana leaves). Other typical foods include passion fruit and tamarinds, tequeños (cheese pastries), pabellón (a stew of beef, rice, and black beans served over fried plantains), and pulpo (“octopus”) cooked in citrus juice. During the pre-Lenten Carnival more elaborate dishes are served, such as paella and talkarí de chivo (“kid stew”). Locally produced beer and rum are popular, as is coffee served in many different styles, each with its own name reflecting the amount of milk added to the coffee.

Although North American music is popular and widespread in Venezuela, the Caribbean salsa and merengue forms are also commonly heard. The national Venezuelan folk dance and musical style is the joropa, but each region of the country has its own distinctive musical expression. (See also Native American arts: Northern South America.)

The arts

Since the 1920s the government has promoted artistic expression as a way to maintain cultural autonomy in the face of foreign influences. As greater freedom for writing and publishing was granted, a flourishing national literature emerged. Rómulo Gallegos, who became Venezuela’s best-known writer, was part of this nationalistic wave, gaining international recognition for his novel Doña Bárbara (1929). Such painters as Armando Reverón and Manuel Cabré also expressed nationalistic fervour. The architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva won international acclaim for his design of the Central University in Caracas, which featured asymmetrically arranged buildings complemented by freestanding murals and sculpture.

The state-supported Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra is highly popular, and its repertoire also reflects a spirit of nationalism. Also of great pride is the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Caracas, which boasts some of the country’s best young musicians. Some of these musicians are recruited from a comprehensive orchestral training and music education program known in Venezuela as El Sistema (“The System”). The program, which was created in the 1970s, offers hundreds of thousands of children from underprivileged and at-risk communities the opportunity to play in youth orchestras throughout the country, and each state in Venezuela has at least one professional youth orchestra.

Cultural institutions

Most of Venezuela’s major cultural institutions are located in Caracas. The Museum of Fine Arts (founded in 1938) houses a large collection of paintings and sculptures by both Venezuelan and foreign artists. Other museums include the Museum of Colonial Art, housed in an 18th-century mansion, and the Science Museum Foundation (founded in 1875 as the National Museum), which contains exhibits on archaeology, anthropology, and other disciplines. Among the noteworthy museums outside Caracas are a museum of pre-Columbian artifacts in Ciudad Bolívar and the Museum of Military History in Maracaibo. The most important book collections are at the National Library (1883) in Caracas, which holds more than two million volumes, including many rare books. The modern Teresa Carreño Theatre provides a forum for international and national music and dance performances.