Monday, April
30, 2007
Mexico’s
Costly and Dysfunctional School System
By Dr. José Enrique Vallarta Rodríguez
In recent years the people of Mexico have had the perception that the nation’s educational system is expensive,
dysfunctional and very corrupt.
Education cannot accurately be called free in Mexico, insofar as public spending annually allotted for education exceeds
the entire budgets of Latin American nations such as Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and El Salvador. It is even greater than some developed countries, like Spain, Portugal or Luxemburg.1
Most of Mexico’s budget for education, about 93 percent, goes to the payment of teacher’s salaries, educators
who are members of the National Education Workers Union (SNTE). The balance is
for infrastructure support, construction of new schools, teacher and staff training, and to improve the academic content of
study programs.2
The distribution of funds budgeted for education in Mexico cannot be compared to that of any other country in the
world. The structure is obsolete, administratively it is dysfunctional, and it
is very expensive for a developing nation like ours.
Nevertheless, the SNTE enjoys a lucrative collective labor contract that grants union members numerous privileges
— long vacations, permission to take time off without having to show cause, 85 days off annually according to the school
calendar, and other perks.
What the collective labor contract does not include are even minimum demands on teachers, for things like accreditation
of training programs, work competence certification, updating of studies, the taking of courses or participation in seminars,
etc.
What is more, for many years the Mexican educational system has failed in its goals.
Some 85 percent of public university graduates today are unemployed, underemployed, or they do not work in their field
of studies.3
Nor do Mexican private schools offer a viable alternative in order to resolve the problem. Their lesson plans are controlled by guidelines of the Secretariat of Public Education or the National
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), meaning they too are out-of-date and lacking in academic or scientific quality. For the most part, they do not have international certifications or revalidation agreements
with international academic institutions.
And while Mexican private schools have an exceptional fiscal system4 with multiple privileges, the cost of a private education in Mexico, from grammar school through a university, is
higher than the average cost of private education in countries like the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Spain, making
it one of the most expensive and thus inaccessible nations in the world.
Furthermore, Mexican private education does not contribute to upward social mobility or after graduation efficiency. Some 50 percent of Mexican private university graduates are unemployed, underemployed
or involved in personal professional activities.
The panorama today, for education in Mexico, is not encouraging. So what
alternatives for change do we have? How can we reverse this problem that impacts
other challenges such as safety and security, employment, and migration, among others?
The following are recommendations as to where to start the improvements.
2.
A reorientation of public spending on education. The
current budgetary structure for education only increases benefits and corruption for union leaders and members. This makes a regulatory budget framework necessary that will specifically address these problems, include
all public sectors and authorities involved, and give greater importance to root problems.
The reorientation of the budget must emphasize a strengthening of the educational infrastructure; the design of modern
public policies that will attend to problems in an integral manner geared towards efficiency and end results; and placement
of university or technological school graduates on the job market.
3.
International quality certification for public and private schools. The level of education in Mexico is unsatisfactory and it has fallen behind other countries. In order to overcome this situation and to improve schools, universities, institutes, technological schools
and other public and private sector educational institutions, international quality certifications issued by qualified international
agencies are needed. This to insure that the learning Mexican schools offer and
impart delivers the highest levels of excellence, using up-to-date lesson plans based on the demands of today’s modern
and globalized world.
1 2007
Expenditures Law: Budget allocated to the Secretariat of Public Education
2 Ibid.
3
Statistics from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information; and the Secretariat of Labor and Social
Security
4
2007 Revenue Law
José Enrique Vallarta Rodríguez, a MexiData.info guest columnist, received his doctorate
in Mexican Electoral Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Mexico City-based, he has worked for the Federal Electoral Institute. He
can be reached via e-mail at vej_2006@yahoo.com.mx.
Translation MexiData.info
