National Overview: Mexico School Structure Culture of the Classroom Access to Education Sources

 

National Overview: Mexico

Definition of Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write

 

Written or Oral Language: Spanish is both oral and written

 

Literacy rate:

• Total Population: 92.2%
• Male: 94%
• Female: 90.5% (2003 est.)

 

Overview of Education: Despite impressive gains in enrollment levels over the previous forty years, significant interrelated problems plague the Mexican education system in the early 1990s. Many primary- and secondary-school-age students, especially in rural areas, fail to complete their education programs. Instructional quality, as measured by student test scores, remains low. Although operation of all non-university education was given to the states in 1993, the system continues to be overly centralized and subject to bureaucratic encumbrances. In addition, students are often poorly prepared to meet the challenges of a global economy (US Library of Congress).

 

Total expenditure on education: 5.9% of GDP (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2004)

 

Script/Alphabet used: Roman alphabet

 

Occupational distribution:

• Agriculture: 18%
• Industry: 24%
• Services: 58% (2003)

 

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School Structure

Primary and Secondary School Structure

The structure of the Mexican school system is slightly similar to that of the school systems in the United States. The levels are as follows:

• Preschool – grades K1-K3
• Primary – 6 years, grades 1-6
• Lower Secondary – 3 years, grades 7-9
• Upper Secondary – 3 years, grades 10-12

 

Preschool is not mandatory and only about 56% of the population attends. The government is only officially responsible for providing the basic education (grades 1-9) and these are the only grades that are mandatory for students to attend. Then, if desired, the student can go to either a college preparatory school (called bachillerato) for three more years or to vocational school to learn a specific trade such as mechanics, nursing or secretarial (see attached for additional information on school structure).

 

Higher Education

Students graduating from bachillerato program are qualified for entrance into a university-level program after passing an entrance exam. University-level programs may be called centro, colegio, instituto, or universidad. The programs range from 4-5 years in length and result in a titulo de licenciado or licenciatura. This would usually be equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in the U.S. There are also options for students to go even further and obtain master’s or doctorate level degrees. Post-secondary institutions may be public or private. Private colleges are not necessarily superior but are more expensive and more exclusive.

 

Post-Secondary Opportunities: universities, technical colleges, and teacher-training institutes

 

Other Aspects of School Structure

School Attendance:

Enrollment in the Mexican school system varies by level. It is very high in the primary schools (grades 1-6) at 93%, but declines in the lower secondary

(grades 7-9) to about 86%. These enrollment rates mean that out of every 100 students entering the first grade, around 68 of them will complete all nine years of basic education. Thirty-five of these will go on to graduate from the upper secondary level. Only 8 percent of the population holds a bachelor’s degree.

 

Pupil to teacher ratio:

• Pre-Primary – 22:1
• Lower-Secondary – 32:1

 

Teacher Qualifications: most teachers have a master’s degree (Josue).

 

Languages in School: Spanish

 

Method of instruction and Subjects/Curriculum

(Cited from ERIC Digests)

 

Pre-primary and Primary School

 

Texts in grades 1-2 use the "global method," which combines social sciences and environmental studies. Throughout primary school the teachers and texts emphasize Spanish and mathematics, and also include geographic and ecological knowledge. Even in primary schools, Mexican texts include a straightforward, in-depth curriculum about health and human sexuality (McClaughlin).

 

Secondary School

Since 1992, the secondary school curriculum has been divided into separate content areas. In grades 7-8, mathematics is integrated to include topics in geometry and algebra each year. In grade 9, all students take trigonometry. Students are required to study a foreign language each year (3 hours/week). Science is also required, although the lack of laboratory facilities in many schools limits possibilities for experiential learning. All students take courses in the arts (2 hours/week) and technology (3 hours/week), which may be hampered by inadequate equipment such as computers. By the time they enter high school, Mexican students must choose among schools that will lead them to college study, a technical career, or a business track (McClaughlin).

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Culture of the Classroom

Physical Environment: “The classrooms were big and painted with brilliant colors. We had about 25-30 students in each classroom” (Josue).

Culture of classroom (Cited from ERIC Digest, McClaughlin article):

• Every Monday students do patriotic exercises where they display the flag and sing the national anthem. Mid-morning there is a "recreo," a break to eat snacks and play outside.

• In Mexico, children are in school for 4 hours a day, and some urban students work in the morning and attend school in the late afternoon.

• Classroom life tends to be more informal than in U.S. schools. In many schools, students engage in frequent group work, often involving a great deal of student interaction and movement. At the same time, Mexican students are expected to show respect to the "maestro/a" (the teacher).

Method of Discipline:

“Each teacher had a different method of disciplining students. Some teachers were very strict while others were gentle. The teachers hit students depending on what they did to break the rules” (Josue).

 

Gender roles in classroom and access:

Slight differences can be seen in the education between males and females in Mexico. Because Mexicans have a more traditional outlook on the various roles that women should play, parents are more likely to send boys to school than girls. Women are believed to be in charge of house work while men are believed to provide for the family. There is not much of a difference in attendance between boys and girls in the primary grades, but for every 100 boys in secondary school, there are only about 90 girls. There is even a greater spread in tertiary schools. Programs have been put in place to provide females with scholarships, which is helping to turn this around.

 

Parent involvement/Parent Role in Education: According to H. James McClaughlin parents usually assume that teachers will make the best decisions for their children, and it is not the norm for parents to intervene in school matters unless asked (McClaughlin).

 

Accommodations:

Mexico does have laws in place regarding special education. The Mexican constitution was amended in 1993 and states that the sate has an obligation to serve all persons with disabilities and must provide equal access to elementary and junior high curriculums.

 

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Access to Education

Educational barriers:

• Transportation is a major barrier in education for students living in the rural areas of the country. For example, in Oaxaca, a state 300 miles south of Mexico City and built on mountainous terrain, 25% of the state’s schools were built without roads leading up to them. According to Mary Ann Zehr of Education Week, one student, Carolina Hernadez-Cruz, makes an hour-long trip by public bus each day over an unpaved road to the city of Zimatlanto in Oaxaca to attend High School. Carolina’s own Indian village of San Miguel Mixtepec does not have a school, possibly a result of the inequality in education experienced by those who live in rural areas and who are of Indian origin (Zehr 2002).

 

• Financial Resources is another educational barrier according to Zehr is . While good private schools exist in the country, few families have adequate funds to send their children to them. As a result, “families compete with each other, courting school directors and teachers, sometimes even bribing them, to enroll their children in the best of the public schools” (Zehr 2002).

 

Socio-political influences:

“The current discourse which permeates Mexico’s educational, economic and political reform stresses the development of more democratic structures of governance in the country as a whole. Two national values rooted in Mexico’s painful history of domination – sovereignty and nationalism – are highlighted in the National Development Plan, and defy the strong currents of change. Thus the reaffirmation of Mexico’s sovereignty and the strong call for national values shape the contours of a Mexican identity” (Tatto et al. 178-179).

 

Progress:

• In 1992, in response to concerns of the country’s quality of education, the government established the National Accord of Basic Education, which transferred responsibility of for primary schools' staff and funding to the states. However, the federal government, through the Secretariat of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública--SEP), retains authority to establish national policies and to assist schools in poor districts. In addition, a revamped curriculum places renewed emphasis on basic skills, such as reading, writing, and mathematics. The states, for their part, have agreed to commit additional resources to improve teacher salaries and training (U.S. Library of Congress).
• The Union of Teachers for a New Education in Mexico – this is a movement of indigenous teachers who work with non-governmental organizations and research centers to implement teaching programs and strategies that will benefit indigenous communities. These programs were formulated and demanded by the communities themselves and are sensitive to the cultural practices of each community while at the same time open to outside influence (Reinke 489).

 

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Sources

 

McLaughlin, H. James. "Schooling in Mexico: A Brief Guide for U.S. Educators." ERIC Digests (2003)

 

Zehr, Mary Ann. "Educating Mexico." Education Week 21.27 (2002)

 

Tatto, Maria Teresa; Arellano, Lilian Aalvarez; Uribe, Medardo Tapia; Varela, Armando Loera; Rodriguez, Michael. “Examining Mexico’s Values Education in a Globally Dynamic Context.” Journal of Moral Education 30.2 (2001).

 

Reinke, Leanne. “Globalisation and Local Indigenous Education in Mexico.” International Review of Education (2004).

 

“Mexico.” The World Fact Book. The Central Intelligence Agency. www.cia.gov/cia/puplications/factbook/geos/la.html. July 7, 2006.

 

“Education at a Glance 2004: Mexico.” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2004. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/36/33714611.pdf. Accessed July 7, 2006.

 

“Mexico: Education.” U.S. Library of Congress. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mx0052). Accessed July 9, 2006.

 

Josue Sanchez, student at Ronald M. Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning. Gave testimony of his experiences as a student in Mexico.

 

 

 

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES: SCHOOLS IN MEXICO

(Cited from ERIC Digest 2003, McClaughlin article)

Mexican schools are organized as shown below:

Preschool and Primary:

Pre-escolar: Federally Funded programs for children ages 4-5.

Primaria: Schools with grades 1-6 and at least one teacher per grade.

Multigrados: One-room schools with one teacher for grades 1-6 or multigrade schools with several teachers, each teaching more than one grade.

Middle Grades (Grades 7-9):

Secundarias: Schools that enroll most non-rural students, including those who are college-bound.

Tecnicas: Schools that provide vocational training for non-college-bound students.

Telesecundarias: Rural schools offering a televised curriculum, which enroll a majority of rural students.

High School (Grades 10-12):

Preparatorias and Bachilleratos: Schools for college-bound youth, where students must choose one of 4 professional areas: physical-mathematics, chemical-biological, economic-administrative, or humanities.

Tecnnologicas and Comercios: Schools for students who have a particular vocational career in mind.

 

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Last revised

14 September 2006