Poor Quality Education in Mexico Urgent Reform Needed

MEXICO CITY — Soaring dropout rates. Pitiful scores in math and science. A proliferation of so-called "trash universities" that offer diplomas but little learning.

By all accounts, Mexico's education system is in serious trouble.

Nearly a decade after former President Vicente Fox vowed to lead an "education revolution," the country has made important strides in ensuring universal access to basic schooling. Today, virtually all children attend elementary school and three of every four attend middle and junior high school, up from six of 10 in 2000.

But the poor quality of that education has thwarted efforts to modernize the economy, trapping the country in a cycle of poverty and low-skilled labor. That pattern has fueled the wave of illegal immigration to the United States.

More than half of Mexico's 15-year-old students don't have basic math and science skills, according to the Paris-based Program for International Student Assessment, which tests education systems throughout the world. Four in ten high school students drop out. And thousands of rural children study in primitive conditions.

Many, like residents of the dust-choked village of El Rialengo, 150 miles north of the capital, rely on volunteer teachers with little training.

On a scorching afternoon, nine children ages 6 to 11 jammed into a crumbling, one-room schoolhouse in El Rialengo. The building, built by residents, lacked electricity and plumbing. While scrawny goats roamed outside, the pupils clamored for the attention of the sole teacher.

"She's not a real teacher," said farmer Javier Garcia, referring to the timid, 21-year-old trainee assigned to the village. "Just because we're poor doesn't mean we don't deserve better."

Miracle

"An accomplishment or occurrence so outstanding or unusual as to seem beyond human capability or endeavor; a wonderful thing worthy of admiration."

--Webster's Third New International Dictonary of the English Language. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., 2002.

"An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment" --Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Company, 1977.

Miracles are exciting

You sing some nice children's songs in kindergarten, and that s it," piano teacher Beatriz Ibarra de Munoz points out to me, suggesting that the kind of music education so many middle-to upper-class Americans take for granted, does not exist in the public schools in Mexico.

Munoz and her colleagues are part of the growing group of women whohave undertaken a project in which the long-term goal is nothing lessthan the restructuring of Mexican life and the elimination of povertythrough education, culture and health care. During my visit to Mexico,I had the privilege of teaching piano at the Imagina School in Leon,witnessing a miracle in one of Mexico's worst ghettos.

The road from the airport to Leon is a hustling-bustling,well-traveled highway, crowded with trucks spewing dust everywhere.Leon, a city of several million people, is a two-hour drive from MexicoCity in the state of Guanajuato. (1) Nestled against a steep hill onthe outskirts of this busy metropolis, approximately 30 miles from theexact geographic center of Mexico, is the neighborhood of El CastilloAzul, the blue castle, an unlikely name for one of Leon's poorest areasand the home of about 17,000 people.There is one paved road in El Castillo Azul and it is only five yearsold. Here, there are homes without electricity, running water ortoilets. The average income is $4 a day, the average public schoolstudent drops out by the third grade, and the typical home is one roomwith one mattress for six or more children.

Today, Mexico has nearly reached its goal of providing facilities for allschool-age children. 

Yet, despite historical advancements and heroic efforts by educators,Mexico continues to struggle with "rezago," or educational failure. Millionsof students are retained or drop out after primary school and secondaryschool. Rural communities--especially those of Indigenous people wheremillions of citizens speak Spanish as a second language--have high ratesof poverty. In these settings, many children drop out of school to workand support their families, which contributes to a higher rate of illiteracy.

There can be a vast difference between the educational experiences ofurban and rural children. Even as the population of Mexico becomes moreurban, the number of small communities increases. These communities areisolated and economically poor, and they have many daunting educationalproblems: the difficulty of finding teachers willing to travel long distancesto teach there, students' inability to attend school due to impassableroads or family responsibilities, and the need for children to work. Ruralstudents may have to leave their communities after elementary school toattend school in a nearby town, and some families cannot afford to payfor travel, textbooks, uniforms, and other school costs after sixth grade.The same is true of poor urban students, although they have more schoolchoices where they live.