Education in Mexico, an outstanding debt

Since 2019, a series of modifications regarding education have been undertaken in Mexico. One of the most controversial is the interest in changing the contents of basic education textbooks, since, in the words of the director of Educational Materials of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), Marx Arriaga, they follow “a model of educational neo-liberal”.

Although we owe a debt to Mexican public education, offering content from the perspective of the operating government goes against what the materials that support it would be expected to be: free of ideology and based on scientific foundations.

In our country, there are important lags that must be considered. According to National Indicators for the Continuous Improvement of Education in Mexico, presented by the National Commission for the Continuous Improvement of Education: “At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, 29.4 million students were enrolled in preschool, primary, secondary and secondary education. superior. With respect to the previous cycle, a decrease of 763 thousand 299 students is estimated, which represents a decrease of 2.5 percent of enrollment in this period. In 2020, around 5.7 million girls, boys, adolescents and young people between the ages of 3 and 17 were out of school. These constituted 17.5 percent of the population in that age range.” This tells us about the existence of an inequality that requires substantial efforts so that no child or adolescent is left without exercising one of their fundamental rights.

In addition to this deficiency, according to the Save The Children association, “in 2021 every day 7 children or adolescents were murdered daily and 37 suffered physical violence, this without counting the many cases that are not identified or reported. The cultural normalization of systemic violence in their family, school and community context is taking their lives and is making them live situations that no person, but especially no girl, boy or adolescent, should experience.” This is alarming because it tells us about a total lack of guarantees to protect the most important right of children and adolescents, which is that of life, even in their school environment.

For some time now, reforms have been promoted in Mexico that claim to be educational, when in reality they are of an administrative or political nature. The changes that are taking place today under the paradigm of the New Mexican School will not solve the problems in depth either if it is governed by ideological bases or by a party.

Without a doubt, there is much to be done in educational matters, which must be a way that not only allows acquiring academic knowledge, but also for life and fulfills what is established in the third article of our Constitution: “Education will be based on unrestricted respect of the dignity of persons, with a human rights approach”.

At Early Institute we know that early childhood is key to the physical, mental and emotional development of girls and boys. Therefore, it is necessary to build an environment that ensures their comprehensive well-being, starting by guaranteeing them an adequate education and safe spaces that protect their lives, and contribute to their growth and school performance.