Introduction  

For seven decades, from 1921, the Mexican education system was centralized under the authority of the Ministry of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública - SEP). However, in 1992, the National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education brought constitutional reforms and in 1993, a new education law established the framework for the reorganization of the education system.

The main policy reforms under the new law included decentralization, by which the government transferred most responsibilities for basic education and teacher education to its 31 states; extension of compulsory schooling; expansion of the preschool system; curricular reform; and increased emphasis on compensatory programs to improve education in disadvantaged communities (Salas Garza, 1998). Teacher in-service training programs also have received increased attention, as the government recognized the needs of teachers to update and refresh their skills.

Despite improvements in education in Mexico over the last century, such as a rise in the adult literacy rate to over 90 percent and steady increases in enrollment in all levels of education (SEP, 1999), the system still faces challenges such as high rates of failure and drop-out. In the mid-1990s, only about 60 percent of the students who enrolled in primary school completed that level and only 88 percent of those continued on to lower secondary school (Gadel, 1997). As education reforms and new programs in rural and indigenous areas take further hold, the Mexican government hopes to continue to see improvements in meeting its goal for all citizens to have access to and to successfully complete basic education.

Stucture of Schooling  

In Mexico, the educational system is organized into basic education, upper-secondary education, and higher education. During the 1998-99 school year, over 28.5 million students were enrolled.

Basic Education comprises preschool, primary school, and lower secondary school. During the 1998-99 school year, 81 percent of the total student enrollment in Mexico (including higher education) was in basic education.

• Preschool caters to children between the ages of three and five and is generally provided in three grades. Pre-school is provided free and, although it is not compulsory, the government strongly advocates that children attend at least one preschool year prior to entering primary school (SEP, 1999).
• Primary education is compulsory and covers six years of schooling. Official entrance into primary education is at six years of age, and it is generally completed by age eleven. However, children enrolled in primary education may be anywhere between 6 and 14 years of age (e.g., in cases where there was grade repetition or a late start). Within the primary education system, there are several educational models, which are intended to target specific population groups (SEP, 1999): (1) general education; (2) bilingual-bicultural education, which allows children in indigenous schools to learn to read and write in their own native tongue, as well as in Spanish, the official language of Mexico; (3) community education, which caters to children in the most isolated regions of the country; and (4) adult education, which provides flexible educational options to those over the age of 15 who have not completed basic education (SEP, 1999).
• Lower-secondary education also is compulsory, covers three years, and requires students to have successfully completed primary education. Lower-secondary schooling is offered in several models, again to cater to various population groups: (1) those in the general school-age population; (2) students in remote areas (via the telesecondary system, telesecundaria, described below); (3) students seeking technical skills; (4) workers requiring vocational education above primary education; and (5) adults seeking a general education. The lower-secondary school age is between 12 and 14 years of age, but actually, students may attend between the ages 12 and 16. Students over the age of 16 are required to attend the secondary education option for workers or adults (SEP, 1999).
• Since 1968, SEP has used a television based education program called Telesecundaria to provide basic education, mainly to students living in rural and dispersed areas of Mexico (Calderoni, 1998). Instruction is delivered through three mechanisms: television broadcast, teacher-student dialogues, and texts. In 1998, Telesecundaria was available in 12,700 rural communities.

Upper-Secondary Education is non-compulsory and has three subsystems: general upper-secondary, technical professional education, and technological upper-secondary. A lower secondary certificate is required for entrance, and most public and private schools require an entrance examination, as well.

Enrollment in upper-secondary education has been on the rise over the last decade. During the 1998-99 school year, 10 percent of total student enrollment was in upper-secondary education. Data from that same year show that about 58 percent of those enrolled were in general education, about 14 percent in technical professional schools, and about 27 percent in technological bachillerato. Descriptions of these three subsystems follow.

• General upper-secondary education, called the bachillerato, is a three-year college preparatory program (Mexico: a country study, 1996). There have been significant increases in enrollment in bachillerato in the past years, and in the 1997-98 school year, 35 new Bachiller schools were established. Other general upper-secondary education institutions include: Preparatoria Schools, Science and Humanities Schools (CCH), and Incorporated Bachillerato.
• Technical Professional Education trains students in different specialties for mid-level positions in the workplace. Students graduate as Professional Technicians, Technical Professionals, or Basic-Level Technicians (SEP, 1999). The College of Professional Technical Education (Conalep), State Institutes for Work Training, State Colleges for Scientific and Technological Studies (CECyTE), and Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Studies (CETIS) are some institutions in which students receive such training.
• The technological bachillerato is a technical upper-secondary education program that prepares students for careers as professional technicians, but also prepares them for higher education if they choose. Institutions such as Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Bachillerato (CBTIS), Centers for Technological Studies (CET), CECyTE and CETIS provide this type of technical upper-secondary education.

Higher Education has four different categories: (1) universities, consisting of four-year college and university programs called the licenciatura (Mexico: a country study, 1996); (2) technical institutes, offering a three-year program in engineering and management fields; (3) teacher-training colleges, offering bachelor degrees in the areas of pre-school, primary school, secondary, and special and physical education; and (4) technological universities, offering two-year programs that prepare students to be Higher University Technicians (SEP, 1999). Total higher education enrollment reached 6 percent of total student enrollment in Mexico during the 1998-99 cycle.

Institutions of higher education in Mexico may be either public or private. However, there are many more public institutions than there are private ones, and the former also tend to have much larger enrollments. Each state has at least one public university, and the larger universities have campuses in different cities (Husén and Postlethwaite, 1994). The National Autonomous University in Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is located in Mexico City and is the largest public university, with over 100,000 students. Institutions of higher education also offer graduate studies and doctoral programs. In the 1998-99 school year, approximately 122,000 students enrolled in graduate studies in Mexico. However, it is more common for students to pursue their graduate studies outside Mexico (Husén and Postlethwaite, 1994).

School Governance and Finance  

Governance  Under the General Education Law, the federal government, through the Ministry of Education (SEP) is responsible for all normative and policy-making functions in education, including:

• Formulating study plans and curricula for primary, lower-secondary, and teacher-training education;
• Authorizing teaching materials for basic education and teacher-training;
• Implementing the free textbook program for primary education;
• Establishing general evaluation guidelines for the national education system;
• Maintaining programs such as teacher in-service training, literacy programs, and programs to reduce inequalities among the regions in Mexico; and
• Determining the school calendar for primary, lower secondary, and teacher education.

SEP also is responsible for all education matter within the Federal District.

Since the 1993 reorganization of the education system, which aimed to bring greater democracy, autonomy and self-governance in the Mexican educational structure and process (Socha, 1997), the primary responsibility for the provision of basic education (and teacher-training) has resided with the 31 individual states. As such, states now have responsibility for key administrative decisions such as primary school staffing and funding (Merrill and Miró, 1996). Twenty-nine of the 31 states have established statewide local education laws. Within individual schools, the principal is the highest authority and is responsible for the functioning, organization, and management of the school.

Finance. The Federal Expenditure Budget (PEF) allocates national resources to education through SEP. Since the highest volume of students is concentrated in the basic education system, the majority of monetary resources are allocated to basic education. In 1999, it was estimated that approximately 65 percent of the national education budget would be allotted to basic education, about 10 percent to upper-secondary education, and about 15 percent to higher education (SEP, 1999). Disparities in resources for basic education are evident between urban and rural areas.

Since the 1980s, spending on education in Mexico has been steadily on the rise in absolute and relative terms, representing about 26 percent of the federal budget in 1999, up from about 12 percent in 1983 (Husén and Postlethwaite, 1994). SEP also conducts regular State Education Financial Surveys to obtain estimates of total basic education spending at both the federal and state levels. In 1996, about 80 percent of education funding came from the federal government, with about 20 percent coming from the states (SEP, 1999).

Curriculum  

The federal government, through SEP, is responsible for implementing the curriculum for basic education and teacher education nationwide.

In primary education, there is a core curriculum. However, the implementation of the curriculum may vary across the country, as the government has tried to tailor the core curriculum to address the ethnic and cultural diversity of students and the special needs of Mexico's indigenous population and students living in remote areas (Husén and Postlethwaite, 1994). The school calendar is 200 days in length and daily class time is between four to four and a half hours (SEP, 1999). Within primary education, there are seven subjects that form the core curriculum: Spanish, mathematics, history, geography, civic education, health, and environmental education. Approximately 45 percent of class time is devoted to Spanish in the first two grades. In grades three to six, about 30 percent of class time is in this subject (SEP, 1999).

Textbooks are prepared by the central government and distributed free of charge to all primary education students. In 1993, SEP undertook to revise all primary education textbooks in order to bring them abreast of new curricula-a process that was to be completed in 1999. SEP prepares the free textbooks, and other educational resources, in both Spanish and native languages. In fact, in 1998, over 1 million textbooks were distribution in 33 native languages and 52 dialects (SEP, 1999).

At the lower secondary level, the curriculum generally requires 35 hours per week and includes the following subjects: mathematics, mother tongue, world and Mexican history, geography, civic education, and natural sciences. For students enrolled in the lower secondary technical schools, extra technical activities also are part of the required curriculum, extending the school week to 42 hours.

At the upper-secondary level, curricula vary widely depending on which of the three subsystems students choose to enroll in (i.e. general upper-secondary, technical professional education, and technological upper secondary). At this level, English is the common foreign language taught in schools.

Standards for Student Performance and Gateways to Promotion and Higher Education  

Promotion.   At the primary level, students must earn at least a six on a scale of one to ten in order to pass a subject. Promotion at the primary school level is the responsibility of the school teacher, in compliance with the standards established by the government.

In order for students to advance through each level of the formal school system, they must successfully complete each prior education level (i.e., primary, lower-secondary, upper-secondary). Certificates are awarded to students by state authorities.

Examinations.   Since 1995, SEP has been working to establish national standards in different subjects and grades. Currently, standardized tests exist for all grades of primary education, which measure skills in mathematical and reading comprehension, and these tests have been applied nationwide (SEP,1999). There also are examinations that are required for entrance into upper-secondary school. (Sometimes, however, this requirement is waived, if students have reached a minimum final grade from lower-secondary school and the upper-secondary school is attached to a university.)

Access to Higher Education.   Candidates must pass an entrance examination in order to be accepted to institutions of higher education.

Teacher Training and Certification  

Teacher education is provided at the university level in special teacher training colleges. A bachelor's degree is offered in all areas of basic education, including preschool, primary education, and secondary education. A four-year degree also is offered in special education and physical education.

Unlike in the past, primary school teachers are now required to have college degrees (Gadel, 1997). In upper-secondary school, most teachers have a four-year degree. Educators in institutions of higher education also have a four-year degree, although some institutions require a master's degree, as well.

The standard for recruiting teachers varies among the states. Some states require a competitive examination before appointment, whereas other states base their decisions solely on candidates' qualifications and performance. In remote regions, teacher qualifications may be lower, and some practicing teachers may not have adequate pedagogical training.

References  

Calderoni, Jose (June 1998). Telesecundaria: Using TV to Bring Education to Rural Mexico. World Bank Human Development Network: Education Group-Education and Technology Team.

Mexico Connect (1996-1998). Comparison of Mexican and Canada/US Education. Available at: www.mexconnect.com/mex_/educomp.html. (Reviewed 24 October 2000).

Gadel, Jami (1997). Education. Available at: www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/children/mexico1.html. (Reviewed 27 October 2000).

Salas Garza, Edmundo (May 1998). Mexico-Basic Education Development Project. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

Husén, T., & Postlethwaite, N. (eds.) (1994). The International Encyclopedia of Education (Second edition). Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Merrill, Tim L. and Miró, Ramón (eds.) (June 1996). "Mexico: a country study." In Education: Section 7 of Chapter 2. Federal Research Division: Library of Congress. Available at: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html (Reviewed 25 October 2000).

Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) (1999). Profile of Education in Mexico (second edition). Mexico City: SEP.

Socha, Donald E. (1997) Perspectives on the Mexican Education System: Prejudices, Problems, Possibilities. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad.