MEXICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM
Mexican Education System The Mexican Education System is structured within the framework of different legal bodies. First of all, we may mention Sections 3 and 31 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. The former, which dates from 1917 , states that “any individual has the right to education” , and that it is the State in its different forms (Federation, States, Federal District and Municipalities) which “will provide Pre-school, Primary, Secondary and Higher Education” . This means that the State is responsible for ensuring education and that said education must be secular, free, democratic and of quality and that it must contribute to the comprehensive development of individuals, favoring the Development of their skills and strengthening awareness on nationality and sovereignty. On the other hand, Section 31 entrusts and delegates on parents the obligation to provide education to their children and dependants in order to observe the compulsory nature of Basic Education (Pre-school, Primary and Secondary). This law also mentions the capacity and autonomy of universities and higher education institutions to govern themselves as to administrative and academic matters in accordance with legal provisions. Both constitutional sections have been regulated by the General Law on Education since 1993. This law expands over certain aspects already mentioned above, such as equality of conditions to access to education by all Mexican inhabitants, the compulsory nature of Primary and Secondary Education, official validity of diplomas and certificates, decentralized bodies, different education levels, education funding, among others. The enforceability of the General Law on Education is in charge of the so-called Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), which reports to the federal executive branch and is responsible for planning and assessing the Mexican Education System. Among its duties, we may mentioned: organization of contents, curricular, calendars of different education levels, observe that each of them comply with the constitutional provisions in force, and preserve and manage the National cultural heritage, authenticate titles, among others.
Educational Competences
In 1992, the National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education was executed, and among other issues, it reorganized educational federalism. As a result, educational services previously in charge of the Federation were transferred to each of the States, which would assume responsibility for each of the schools located in their jurisdiction. Consequently, a decentralization process of certain educational services to each of the States took place . At that time, the Federation started to delegate certain educational powers and transfer technical, administrative and financial resources. As a result, public institutes and secretariats were created and started to take control over the management of Basic , Pre-school, Primary and Secondary education facilities, as well as vocational training and teachers’ training entities. Apart from basic education, local authorities were entrusted with other educational duties, namely: Secondary Technical Professional (Profesional Técnico Bachiller) education provided by the National College of Technical Professional Education (Colegio Nacional de Educación Profesional Técnica – CONALEP), Secondary education (Bachillerato) services provided by the College of Community Secondary and Distance Secondary Education (Colegio de Bachilleratos and Telebachilleratos Comunitarios), training for work services and Higher education services. As a result, the so-called Decentralized Bodies of State Governments (ODES – Organismos Descentralizados de los Gobiernos Estatales) were created. They provide federal and state education funding. At present, the Federation is responsible for keeping national education uniformity vis-à-vis the decentralization process
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referred to above. To that end, it deals with Basic Education as regards the definition of guidelines, plans and programs in coordination with each of the local authorities, as well as fixing a unified school calendar for the whole country and assessing education throughout the national territory. Several tasks entrusted to the Federation are performed by the SEP , which performs them in the pursuit of national education integration. In this sense, it holds regular meetings with different national and local authorities so as to unify criteria as regards education programs and contents in accordance with the federal laws in force, performing ongoing assessments of procedures and the quality of education provided by each jurisdiction. To sum up, educational services are managed by the Federation (the SEP and other Executive Secretariats), state and municipal governments, autonomous institutions and individuals. The different tasks should be performed in coordination with the relevant authorities and educational laws, taking into account diversity as regards different social, cultural, economic and educational realities in each of the federal States.
Academic Structure Basic Education
Basic education is composed of Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education.
Pre-school education This education level is for children over 3 year old and is composed of three grades. The first one, for 3-year old children, the second one, for 4-year old children and the third grade, for 5-year old children. This level is governed by the Pre-school Educational Program (Programa de Estudio Educación Preescolar – PEP), which covers the entire national territory taking into account the different modalities and education centers, either public or private. This program, which started in 2011, is open, that is, it does not establish structured patterns or sequences of fixed activities for the level, since it is aware of the diversity existing inside an institution and/or classroom, as well as the different contexts where they are located. It proposes six education areas: the most important is the development of language. The rest includes: mathematical thinking, world exploration and knowledge, artistic expression and appreciation; physical and health development, and personal and social development. Pre-school education is provided in a public and private manner and is offered in Kindergartens, Pre-school Education Psycho pedagogical Care Centers (Centros de Atención Psicopédagógico de Educación Preescolar – CAPEP) and Infant Development Centers (Centros de Desarrollo Infantil – CENEDI) .
Primary Education Primary education is offered for children between the ages of 6 and 11. This level is composed of six grades. During these levels, children are expected to acquire basic knowledge on Spanish, mathematics, technology, English, making the development of individual motor skills and personal balance possible and linking up with cultural basic instruments. As regards contents, the Public Education Secretariat is responsible for establishing the guidelines of the contents provided in each level, both for public and private entities. Upon completion of this level, children are awarded an official certificate necessary to continue studies at Secondary school.
Secondary Education The secondary level is the last educational level that completes Basic Education. It lasts 3 years and is for students until
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the age of 14 or 15. Students are expected to be trained, so that upon completion of secondary school, they continue their studies at a higher level or entry the labor world. We may find different modalities, namely:
• General secondary education.
This modality has the largest number of students from urban and rural areas. It is characterized by the offer of workshops and by having laboratory rooms, accompanied by a teacher specialized in each area.
• Distance secondary education (telesecundaria).
This system was created in 1968, and unlike General Secondary Education, it has a sole advisor professor for all the subjects, and classes are broadcasted on television, with the support of printed bibliography, offered to students free of charge. Thanks to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (TIC), this model is still in force and has an increasing number of students, gathering young people who due to economic or transport issues are unable to attend general or technical secondary school. Therefore, we may found distance secondary school in urban, suburban and rural areas of the country.
• Industrial technical secondary education.
This is similar to general secondary education, but it focuses on technological training according to the economic activity of each region (agribusiness, fishing industry, forestry, services, among others). It structures its contents with the purpose that students have access to the production system. To a lesser extent, you may find other types of secondary schools, such as community schools or those intended for workers. In turn, there is also a self-financed private offer governed by the guidelines set forth by the SEP.
Higher Education (Educación media superior) For this level, an official certificate awarded upon completion of Basic Education is required. Higher education includes:
• General Bachillerato.
It lasts between two to three years and is a requirement to enter Post-secondary education (educación superior). Its purpose is to train students and provide them with tools to enter and select different options at the next educational level or in the labor market.
• Technological Bachillerato.
As the previous one, this modality is aimed at training students for post-secondary education as well as in specific activities such as, agricultural activities, fishing activities, forestry, industrial activities, services and maritime activities according to the labor market needs.
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• Technical Professional Bachiller.
It is aimed at training technicians in industrial and/or service activities, providing them with such educational skills and contents as may be necessary to enter the labor market or continue their studies at a higher level.
• Technical Professional Education.
Technical Professional Education is distributed in three grades and its mission is to train in technical knowledge. In this sense, programs are of a terminal nature, that is, they offer a title in the technical specialty, but not a bachiller diploma, though there exists the possibility of taking it.
Post-secondary education This educational level is composed of three levels: University Upper Technical level, Bachelor’s degree (Licenciatura) and Post-graduate level. The first one trains professionals in specific technical areas and has a duration of two to three years. It awards an official certificate, but not a bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, the Licenciatura level is aimed at training professionals in several areas and has a minimum duration of four years. These courses are given in university institutions, technological and teachers’ training institutions. In order to take a postgraduate course, a graduate degree is required. Therefore, a Specialty course of studies, Master and/or Doctorate may be taken. Apart from the different educational levels mentioned above, the Mexican education system also includes Special Education , Adults’ Education , Technical Education and training for work.
Compulsory Education In Mexico, Basic Education is compulsory. This includes pre-school, primary and secondary education. It is governed by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (Sections 3 and 31), and the General Law on Education. This occurs gradually, the first compulsory educational level was primary school in 1917, then secondary education in 1993 and finally, pre-school education in 2002. By 2013, the SEP issued a decree whereby Higher Education was made compulsory. Such event resulted in amendments to the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States proper (Sections 3, 4, 9, 37, 65 and 66. In addition, Sections 12 and 13 were added to such law).
Financing The Mexican education system is funded by the public sector, private entities and external and/or international institutions. Public financing is governed by the General Law on Education, in particular, Section 25. This section sets forth that public education and educational services’ financing is in charge of the Federal Executive Branch and each of the federal states. In turn, the annual amount provided by the State “shall not be less than eight percent of the gross domestic product”. Though education has three sources of public financing (federal, state and municipal), the highest contribution is made by the federal government, to a lesser extent, state contributions, and marginally, municipal contributions, there is only a few local governments that are able to invest in education.
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The Federation makes its contributions through the SEP, which distributes them through three administrative channels: 1) Account 11. It corresponds to direct expenses incurred by the SEP allocated to state services aimed at generating equality and equity among federal systems. 2) Account 25. This channel corresponds to resources belonging to the Federal District, a direct responsibility assumed by the SEP. 3) Account 33. Includes FAEB (Contribution fund for Basic and Regular Education – Fondos de Aportaciones para la Educación Básica y Normal), FAM (Multiple Contribution Fund – Fondo de Aportaciones Múltiples) and FAETA (Contribution Fund for Technological and Adults’ Education – Fondo de Aportaciones para la Educación Tecnológica y de Adultos). They are directly allocated to each of the federal states. In addition to the Accounts mentioned above, there are other federal funds and accounts that distribute resources to the education system.
Technical and vocational training education
Technical Education has been transformed over the history of Mexican education. Recently, by the 70’s, the Technological Education National System (SNET) was structured. It is composed of several entities, all of them coordinated by the Under-secretariat of Technological Education and Research (Subsecretaría de Educación e Investigación Tecnológicas - SEIT), which was created in 1976 and is part of the SEP. Technical Education is funded through the official budget. It does not receive direct contributions from the private sector or tax benefits. Jointly with the decentralization process of educational services and the management of the relevant federal institutions, there has been an improvement in Technical Education financing, due to a high degree of involvement of social actors in training processes in each of the different jurisdictions. At present, the SNET is present in different branches (industrial, agribusiness, economy, management, biological sciences, among others), within five educational levels
Training
This level refers to the wide range of courses an individual can take in order to enter the production system. Most of these courses are developed in the so-called Training Centers for Industrial Work (Centros de Capacitación para el Trabajo Industrial – CECATI) and have a duration ranging from three to five months, training students in occupations and trades demanded by the labor market in several specialties (industrial, agricultural, business and services techniques). Such offer is addressed to all the people who have not completed formal studies (“excluded” from the formal education system), therefore, academic background is not a requirement for enrollment, but reading and writing abilities and mathematical knowledge are required. In turn, the Training for work area provides educational services aimed at providing pedagogical tools and specific techniques to integrate students into the labor market. We may mention the space of Official Acknowledgement of Occupational Skills (Reconocimiento Oficial de la Competencia Ocupacional – ROCO), which irrespective of how such knowledge was acquired; it certifies skills in specific occupational areas. Besides, there are Regular Courses and the Model of Education based on Skills (Modelo de Educación Basada en Competencias – EBC), which certifies if a student
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is able to develop an occupation and, finally, the Acknowledgment of Official Validity of Studies (Reconocimiento de Validez Oficial de Estudios), offered by specific entities. All of them are provided by the SEP, state governments and official bodies . Anyway, the services mentioned above do not certify secondary education, and therefore, they do not qualify to enter Bachillerato (though they give the possibility of doing it), but rather the labor market.
Middle level Within this level, there is the possibility of taking the Industrial Technical Secondary course of studies (explained in Academic Structure).
Higher Education As described herein above, students have different options within this educational level to continue their studies within the technical areas, namely: Technological Bachillerato, Technical Professional Bachillerato and Technical Professional Education. Certification of the first two options allows entering the higher level, if the Professional Education is selected; certification is required to gain access to the next educational level. The educational institution that represents the Bachiller Technical Professional modality is the National College of Technical Professional Education (CONALEP). This decentralized public entity has legal existence and own resources and its purpose is to train professionals to enter the industrial or services sectors of companies. At present, the CONALEP is present in 30 colleges in different Mexican states, apart from the Federal District and the State of Oaxaca, with a wide offer of technical courses, and the capacity to certify skills and competences of Mexican citizens.
Post-secondary education Once students are in the post-secondary education level, they may enjoy different options of Technical Education. One of them is to take the Post-secondary University Technical (TSU) course of study that lasts two to three years . This course has been offered in Technological Universities by the Federation since 1991, having more than 90% of postsecondary education students. Another possibility is University and Technological Bachellor’s Degree (Licenciatura), which offers a course of four to five years with the possibility of obtaining an intermediate certification. Upon completion of this bachellor’s degree, students may continue their studies through a post-graduate course (Specialty, Master and/or Doctorate).
Private sector offer Although the private educational offer is not contemplated by the SNET, the SEP acknowledges and validates any offer that complies with the guidelines set forth by the law in question. In general, private training courses focus on services; office/secretary, language and computing services, unlike the public offer which focuses on industrial and production training.
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Bibliography Website of the Mexican Public Education Secretariat: http://www.gob.mx/sep Website of the Organization of Ibero American States: http://www.oei.es/ Website of the UNESCO International Office of Education: http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/WDE/2010/pdf-versions/Mexico.pdf Website of the Scientific Magazines Network of Latin American, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal: http://www.redalyc.org/home.oa Website of the Federal Official Bulletin – Secretariat of Government of Mexico: http://www.dof.gob.mx/ Website of México Evalúa – Center of Analysis of Public Policies: http://mexicoevalua.org/ Website of the National College of Technical Professional Education: http://www.conalep.edu.mx/ Website of the Autonomous National University of Mexico: https://www.unam.mx/ Laws on education: - Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (1917), Section 3. - Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (1917), Section 31. - Mexico. United Mexican States Congress (July 13, 1993). General Law on Education. DOF: 12-17-2015. Mexico. Legislative Assembly of the Federal District (June 8, 2000). Education Law of the Federal District. Official Gazette of the Federal District.
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Academic Structure Of The Mexican Education System
Doctorate Master Bachelor’s Degree (Licenciatura) 18 years old
University Upper Technical Level
Higher Education General Bachillerato
Technological Bachillerato
Technical Professional Bachiller
Technical Professional Education
Higher Education (Educación Media Superior)
15 years old General Secondary education
Distance secondary education (telesecundaria)
12 years old
Industrial Technical Secondary education
Training for Work
Secondary Education Primary Education
6 years old 3 years old
Pre-school Education
45 days Initial Education
Basic Education Compulsory Education
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Technological Education National System
Public Education Secretariat
Under-secretariat of Technological Education and Research
Council of the Technological Education National System
SNET’s Offices Centralized General Office of Agricultural Technological Education General Office of Industrial Technological Education
Maritime Science and Technology Education Unit General Office of Technological Institutes General Office of Training for Work General Office of Technical Secondary Education D.F
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Decentralized from the Federation
Decentralized from the States
Instituto PolitĂŠcnico Nacional (IPN)
IPN Center of Advanced Research and Studies
General Office of Centers of Training for Work
Industrial Engineering and Development Center
Industrial Technical Training Center
Scientific and Technological Studies College
Autonomous
National College of Technical Professional Education
Higher Studies Technological Institutes