Now, the fifth International Day of Education will be celebrated under the motto “Invest in people, prioritize education”.
In Mexico, this motto is still a utopia, since there is a historical debt in the fulfillment of the right to education of girls and boys from 0 to 3 years old, especially with the most vulnerable. Before the pandemic, only 8.6 % of girls and boys of these ages had access to initial education. Currently, according to the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), only the 5 % of the population from 0 to 3 years old are attended in the 2 modalities of initial education (school and non-school). Their right to education is not being respected and is unacceptable.
Consequently, by not being able to access initial education programs, Mexican children experience a learning and care crisis, a situation that worsened with the pandemic and the economic crisis that has been unleashed. This reality threatens all areas of children’s development, including motor, cognitive, social and emotional skills. Therefore, it is urgent to increase the budget allocated to fulfill the objectives of the National Initial Education Policy, prioritizing the increase in the offer and coverage of this educational level, training and hiring more educational figures, and promoting learning approaches through through play and upbringing with tenderness in the services offered.
On the other hand, girls, boys and adolescents who attend preschool to upper secondary education are also affected. The educational gap, exacerbated by the suspension of face-to-face classes, produced an estimated two-year decrease in schooling that Mexico reached before the pandemic. It is estimated that the loss of fundamental learning could result in a decrease of up to 8 % of their future adult income, which would represent losing one month of salary per year for the rest of their productive life.
The panorama worsens when we find that more than a million students in basic and upper secondary education have dropped out of school since the start of the pandemic, this is related to accumulated academic deficit, lack of support and socio-emotional skills, lack of access to platforms and technological devices, lack of motivation or need to work.
In addition, poverty has been a great enemy of education, according to CONEVAL, in the second semester of 2022 a third of those who worked earned a salary below the basic food basket. The lacking family economy increases the possibility that girls, boys and adolescents work at an early age, many of them in activities that put them in danger, and that take them away from the classroom.
In short, this International Day of Education we ask that the causes that violate the full enjoyment of the right to education of children and adolescents in Mexico be addressed. We urgently call on the educational authorities to translate commitments and initiatives into actions that make universal education coverage possible, combating dropout and school lag.
Giving priority to education will allow the well-being of children and adolescents in Mexico and the world. We need to promote structural and sustainable changes that resolve the debt with children.