Portuguese language to be taught in Venezuela starting next year

Along with the recent news about Portuguese to be taught in Castille and Leon comes this article about the entry of Portuguese as an optional language in the Venezuelan educational system next year as well.

Some parts from the article:

Portuguese will be an option in public/official education starting next year, said Vice-Chancellor Antonio Braga in Caracas.

President Hugo Chávez on multiple occasions showed an interest in Portuguese being included in the Venezuelan official system of education... the statements by the Portuguese Vice-Minister of External Relations were made at the end of a meeting of Portuguese teachers in Venezuela. "There is a new ambition to design, here in Venezuela, a learning net that meets the demand of the Portuguese community and also to the need to create teachers. Portuguese will be an optional language in the system of education starting next year", he said.

"One of the matters most concerning the teachers is the question of school textbooks, the difficulty in acquiring them, and the difficulty in learning with direct impact", he added.

On the manuals, he said that this is a matter to be handled by a delegation from the Instituto Camões, the embassy and consulate.