What it's like to be a student in Venezuela, where the school system is being ripped apart by the economy

It's no secret that Venezuela is living a nightmare right now, dealing with extensive crime, unbearable violence, and a devastating economic collapse. Meanwhile, its schools are suffering.

Venezuela's education system used to be among the best in South America. Former president Hugo Chavez made the school systems a high priority, using the rise in oil prices to train new teachers and hand out free laptops. However, in the past few years, that progress has all but vanished.

Now that the price of oil has fallen and brought the economy down with it, the school system is failing right alongside it. Ahead, see photos of what it's like to attend schools in the economic nightmare that is Venezuela.