Education in Mexico: Interesting Facts, Statistics and Quality of System
The global efforts to achieve zero illiteracy in every country, including those with talented citizens in music, sports, or acting, have significantly benefited Mexico. According to a 2017 article titled “Education in Mexico: Important Facts and Figures,” by Morrison, Julia, this nation in the southern part of North America has seen the number of students joining formal education rise to 28.22 million from 3.25 million between 1950 and 2000.
In spite of these significant improvements, infrastructural and human resource reforms are necessary to remedy notable education problems in Mexico. A specific issue in this country is the constant wrangling between teachers’ unions and the national government. Other challenges that might be undermining the education quality in Mexico include financial constraints, economic inequality, and limited access to amenities that support academics.
Therefore, mexicanist.com dissects the complex Mexican education system to help you understand not only its structure but also the dynamics and outcomes of schooling within the country.
Some of the Facts about Education in Mexico
1. Teaching human evolution is prohibited
The origin of human beings in Mexico is one of the biggest issues to the extent of learning institutions not teaching or supporting any research on it. The probable reason for outlawing this subject in school is due to the Catholic Church’s influence. As such, approximately 50% of Mexicans neither support nor believe in evolution.
Even though the world advocates for “freedom of belief, thought, and faith,” limiting knowledge on a particular topic(s) confines the right to free will. It will be best if the reforms on the education policy in Mexico occur for students to study and criticize human evolution. With this autonomy, scholars can identify the similarities between religion and scientific accounts of the origin of early life.
2. Most students attend public learning institutions
Despite their unconducive learning environments because of underfunding and understaffing, public schools register more students than private institutions. The reason for this trend concerns many parents or guardians having low to medium sources of income.
Due to a low probability of students attaining grades required to join prestigious colleges and universities in Mexico or globally in public schools, families with high disposable income opt to take their children to private schools.
With these dynamics, it is possible to assume that the education system in Mexico does not promote equity and equality in attaining academic qualifications for any profession.
The Overview of Education in Mexico Statistics
About half of the students proceed to the next education level
Although Mexicans comprise 64% of construction workers in the United States, their transition from one educational level to another remains one of the big challenges and “headaches” to the national government. For instance, approximately 62% of learners at the elementary level proceed to secondary school. Where do the remaining 38% go?
About 50% of those who get admission to secondary school drop out. Based on the findings established by Lauren Bradshaw, a professional essay writer at CustomWritings, the underlying reason for half of the students opting not to continue with their studies concerns financial constraints and inability to cope with the school work. According to her, a feasible solution at a personal level could be a consideration of applying for a scholarship and seeking online academic help.
The country lacks a reading culture
One of the renowned scholars in library studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Elsa Ramirez, stated, “Mexico simply has never had a culture favorable to reading.” The probable explanation for this trend could be that many citizens consume a lot of electronic media. In other words, Mexicans consider watching to be more entertaining and informative than reading books.
Currently, citizens in this country read approximately three books yearly. Such statistics might be a good indicator of a low education level. Which strategies can this country use to remedy the problem?
Even though bookstores and shops have introduced discounts on books to foster a reading culture, it has been effective. As such, education stakeholders in Mexico might intervene by introducing mandatory reading of a certain number of books before proceeding to the next level. The government can also reward individuals who write and publish books and journals.
High expenditure on education in Mexico hardly translates into desired outcomes
Compared to many high-income countries, such as the United States, Mexico spends significantly more on education. In particular, approximately 5% of its GDP goes to this sector. However, the United States only allocates about 2.5% of its budget to education. So, why do Mexican schools struggle to offer quality and favorable learning environments?
The major problems are corruption and embezzlement. Most of the leaders divert resources meant to fund the hiring of teachers and the construction of classes for their businesses. Therefore, without political will and accountability, Mexican schools would continue offering substandard education to citizens despite the economic potential of the country.
How is the Quality of Education in Mexico?
Quality does not count
According to the 2017 article, “‘The Help Never Lasts’: Why Has Mexico’s Education Revolution Failed?” by Lakhani, Nina, published in the Guardian, Mexico trails behind the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations in education. In particular, 50% of Mexican children could not attain the most basic criteria, with the worst literacy in science and math. Something surprising about education in Mexico statistics is that even pupils from privileged backgrounds cannot outperform economically disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Hiring and promotion at job places negatively contribute to the substandard education in Mexico. According to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness’ expert, Alexandra Zapata, private and state-owned organizations recruit candidates on the basis of their connections rather than academic and experience qualifications. As such, low or high grades do not count in the corporate world.
Schools lack bilingual or multilingual teachers
With the goal of every country globally to share knowledge and collaborate through publication, learning a common language, such as English or French, has become a common trend. As a result, most schools implement bi- or multi-lingual curricula.
However, the situation in Mexico is different. For instance, in this country, instructors do not have sufficient knowledge to teach students who speak more than one language. Approximately 1.3 million learners in Mexico are only proficient in their indigenous dialects.
Out of 55,000 Mexican teachers, only 60% are multilingual. As a consequence, most students in the country in question continue to learn in their indigenous dialects, undermining the nation’s rank in OECD to improve. Generally speaking, this article provides a comprehensive overview of interesting facts about education in Mexico by highlighting challenges that educational stakeholders in government or private sectors can use to recommend any feasible reform and improvement. However, rather than waiting for national intervention on the issue, it would be best if students try looking for a scholarship to study abroad.
Whereas this strategy might work better, the major problem has been the potential of Mexican students to perform in Ivy League colleges in the United States. With the availability of online academic assistance, they can purchase cheap services for writing personal statements and materials for referencing. Ideally, this article not only highlights education challenges in Mexico but also suggests a way out to excelling academically within the country and abroad.
