Is Mexico Staring at a Failed Education Revolution?
Mexico’s academic scenario is dismal and the news comes in the wake of the country’s claims to make things better in this regard. Education ranked high in President Enrique Pena Nieto’s agenda. The reality – however – is grim to say the least. In a nutshell, Mexico is standing at the threshold of an “almost” failed education revolution whereby salaries are paid to teachers who hardly attend classes and children have minimal or no access to the academic tools and not even to food. Further details have been documented below.
Why has Mexico’s Education System Failed?
If you look up the internet, you will come to find out about schools where students have to do with paltry portions of tortillas and beans. There are a few students who will have to do with this much for the entire day. As the country’s school hours are split into two shifts, the students generally end up being in schools from 1.30 – 6.00 p.m. So, you might often come across teachers complaining that it’s absolutely impossible for students to give their best shot at academic success when they are not getting enough food at the first place.
Talk about the abysmal infrastructural framework of schools and you will be shocked to know that there are a few of them where the students don’t even have proper access to the internet quite simply because the school labs remain closed most of the times.
How is crime responsible for poor academic performance?
Another major reason why at present it seems almost impossible to chart a desirable academic trajectory is the high drop-out rate in schools. As per reports, the reason is yet to be discovered. Ask the teachers and they will tell you that they have absolutely no idea why students stop coming to classes after a certain point of time. Students in the country are known to leave their schools with poor literary skills and with zero or no grasp over Mathematics or Science. The country very unfortunately languishes at the bottom of the list of 35 OECD countries. For those who aren’t aware- let us tell you OECD refers to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In fact, it has been opined that a child in Vietnam hailing from the poorest of backgrounds can outperform the richest child from Mexico in academics.
How is the quality of education affected in the country?
Notably, it has been pointed out that irrespective of whether one belongs to a rich or a poor family in Mexico, the quality of education is “positively” bad. Admissions are conducted on the basis of connections and not merit. The end results of course are reflected by the country’s consistently plummeting academic performance both nationally and internationally.
Crime has a major role to play in hindering academic growth in the country as well. Buena Vista, for example, is associated with high crime rates and zero police patroling. Students during the winters walk home alone as the schools close early and are appallingly exposed to the risk of falling prey to these crimes.
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