Frontera  NorteSur Apr- Jun  2008

EDUCATION

Mexico Plans Expansion of Migrant Education in US and Canada

Building on a cross-border educational initiative, Mexico's federal government plans to expand educational and vocational training programs for Mexican migrants in the United States. Speaking at an educational and economic development conference in Mexico last week, Mexican Education Minister Josefina Vazquez Mota said the administration of President Felipe Calderon plans to open an additional 100 community education centers to serve the migrant population in the US. The functionary also announced that Mexico will open a similar educational facility in Canada for the first time.

The purpose of the centers is two-fold. Besides providing basic and secondary education skills, the programs aim to professionalize the work skills of migrants. Certification programs will be made available for Las Vegas gardeners, New York restaurant industry employees, California cosmetologists and Wisconsin dairy workers, Vazquez said, adding that better education and economic competitiveness are linked together by the ties between the three member states of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"(Workers) will have certainty and labor mobility," Vazquez contended. "Their labor competencies will be recognized." For businessmen, the programs will provide "much more competitive, committed and cohesive personnel," she added.  In the academic realm, the new community education centers will initially focus on teaching English to migrants. 

According to Vazquez, the international program will be managed by Mexico's National College of Professional and Technical Education (Conalep), which will celebrate its 30th anniversary later this year. The educational institution is in the process of expanding its curricula to encompass robotics, informatics, alternative energy, tourism and health, among other subjects.

Source: La Jornada, March 6, 2008. Article by Emir Olivares Alonso.

Test Anxiety Grips a Border School

Nervous Ciudad Juarez families await the results of a high-stakes test that will decide which students enter the next freshman class of the city's prestigious Central
Preparatory. Enjoying a reputation as perhaps the city’s top-notch high school, the educational institution advertised 160 available slots for next year's freshman class. Early on the morning of May 26, family members of 350 prospective students waited long hours outside the school for the admissions exam to begin. Only the highest-scoring 160 test takers will get the chance of attending Central Preparatory.

"We came at 7 in the morning. We already have 4 hours here, but it's worth the wait for those of us who want our children to improve," said parent Cecilia Olivares, who saved a place in line for her 15-year-old son. "They are all superior students here," Olivares affirmed. "This is the best school of all, and it gathers together all the
best students. They are all brains. The son of one of my friends left here and is now studying in Canada on a full scholarship."

A privately-run school that is financed by subsidies from the state and municipal governments as well as from private sector donations, Central Preparatory emphasizes math, science and English studies. The majority of the school’s graduates go on to study at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, the University of Texas at El Paso and other colleges.

Parent Francisco Cervantes said that better-off families shell out about $50 in monthly tuition fees, but that scholarships are available to academically-excellent, low-
income students. Angel Hidalgo, assistant academic director of the school, said that books and instruction are provided to financially needy students as long as they maintain grade point averages of B plus or above.

Kenia Cervantes, a 17-year-old student, characterized Central Preparatory as an extremely challenging but ultimately rewarding educational experience.

"It's difficult enough, and the classes are complicated," Cervantes said. "Sometimes I go to the bathroom and find someone crying who wants to quit, but they endure it
because they know this is a good school and don't want to lose the opportunity to continue here."

Toting a guitar, Cervantes challenged the popular notion that Central Preparatory is only for bookish bores. "There is a lot of pressure here at times, but it very cool to be here," Cervantes beamed. "It's not true that it's all nerds. We also have a lot of fun here. After all, we are young people."

Source: El Diario de Juarez, May 27, 2007

Private Schools Surge

More privately-owned schools are slated to open in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, for the upcoming 2007-2008 school year. At least 57 new private schools are expected to be up and running when students start classes next August. Concentrated in newer sections of the sprawling border city, the new schools will serve the pre-school, primary and middle school student populations. In addition to the ongoing shortage of public schools, the boom is attributed to the availability of popular English classes in the private schools.

Ruben Villalobos Ortiz, the president of the Federation of Private Schools of Ciudad Juarez, said the demand for English-speaking employees in the maquiladora export industry is encouraging many parents to enroll their children in private schools that emphasize learning English. 

Ciudad Juarez's upsurge in private schools reflects a national trend in Mexico. A recent study by Mexico's National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE) reveals that the number of private pre-schools in Mexico jumped 116 percent from 2000 to 2005, while the number of private elementary schools increased 15 percent during the same time period. Conversely, the number of public primary schools (and teaching staff) decreased nationwide by 2 percent from 2000 to 2005, according to the INEE.

In some regions, closures of public preschools and reductions in their teaching staff were even more dramatic. In Guanajuato state, for instance, the number of public pre-schools and teachers that served indigenous communities dropped 67 percent and 44 percent, respectively, from 2000-2005. However, overall student enrollment in Guanajuato's indigenous pre-schools increased by 1 percent during the five-year period examined.

The 5-year period studied by the INEE covers most of the years of the administration of former President Vicente Fox, who promised an "educational revolution" when he took office. Four of the states that registered a heavy loss in public schools during the Fox administration were Jalisco, Yucatan, Morelos, and Guanajuato, all of which were ruled by governors from Fox's center-right National Action Party (PAN) during the time period
considered in the INEE study. Governed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Mexico state also experienced a decrease in public schools during 2000-2005. At the state level, Chihuahua was also administered by successive PRI governments from 2000-2005. 
 

Sources: La Jornada, March 8, 2007. Article by Karina Aviles. El Diario de Juarez, February 28, 2007. Article by Guadalupe Felix. 

The Winds of Oaxaca

A conflict over the management of a Ciudad Juarez technical college is set to enter its second week. Professors and students at the federally-operated Technological Institute of Ciudad Juarez (ITCJ) halted classes and briefly took over the school's administration offices to protest the sudden sacking of Director Angel Rafael Quevedo Camacho and his replacement by Jesus Armando Logoria Gandara last week. Angered by the removal of an administrator widely regarded as competent and progressive, some protestors warned that "another Oaxaca " could result from the conflict.

As the week wore on, protestors were removed from administration offices, allegedly by pro-administration students organized by Longoria, who nevertheless offered an olive's branch to his opponents.

"I will continue respecting the right to demonstrate freedom of expression, but always as it conforms to the law," Longoria said. "I am convinced that we all want the best for the Tech.” In the hot seat, Longoria pledged to relay campus grievances to Mexico City .

At the beginning of the protest, pro-Quevedo staff and students said they did not have anything personally against Longoria, a native of Delicias , Chihuahua , who worked as a professor for many years at the federal technological college in the Torreon , Coahuila, area. Initially numbering in the hundreds, protestors were upset at the top-down removal of former Director Quevedo, whom they praised for putting "lazy" teachers to work and bringing under control the so-called "aviadores (flyers)," or teachers who collect paychecks but do not work.

Although Longoria appeared to have consolidated his appointment by week's end, some teachers and students vowed to press forward with their movement. Another round of class boycotts could happen on Monday, November 13.

Jorge Gonzalez Rodriguez, spokesman for the ITCJ's strike committee, said protestors will maintain a "permanent assembly" and push for campus autonomy in decision-making authority.

"We believe that we are in the right, that (the movement) is for the institution," Gonzalez added. "We're subject to scrutiny, public opinion, criticism, and also the actions the administration and authorities, but this is the risk one runs when deciding to participate in these types of conflicts."

An institution that's in high demand among prospective students, the ITCJ is part of a federal Public Education Ministry system that trains students in accounting, computer, engineering and other professional careers.

While conflict raged at the ITJC campus in Ciudad Juarez last week, labor-management discord also disrupted another segment of the national education system. Originally walking out on October 23, an estimated 20,000 striking teachers from the National Bachelor's Colleges (Cobach) in 13 states escalated their protests for higher pay. In some cases supported by students and their parents, the Cobach teachers conducted vocal protests in Tijuana , Mexicali , Mexico City and elsewhere.

Unlike the Oaxaca teacher's strike, which the outgoing Fox Administration argued was the responsibility of a state government to settle, the Cobach strike involves issues that are squarely in the federal government's corner. Similar to Oaxaca, however, the Cobach struggle has acquired international dimensions. In Mexicali , Baja California , more than 100 Cobach teachers held a demonstration November 8 at an international crossing with Calexico , California . Contending that the Mexican government does not respect labor agreements, Cobach teachers staged protests outside Canadian and US diplomatic quarters in Mexico City last week.

In the northern border state of Tamaulipas, meanwhile, Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores rejected suggestions that political winds blowing north from Oaxaca state were reaching the entity. Gov. Hernandez said the state administration has good relations with teachers, and that Tamaulipas maintains quality public schools. "Tamaulipas is not anything like Oaxaca ," remarked the PRI governor.

Messages in support of the Popular Assembly of the Oaxacan People (APPO) have been spray painted in Tamaulipas, and a pro-APPO demonstration on November 4 drew about 100 people, including foreign nationals, to an international bridge between Matamoros and Brownsville , Texas . In addition to shouting slogans against the Mexican Federal Preventive Police, which stormed Oaxaca City last month, and Oaxaca Governor Ulises Ruiz, demonstrators protested the Bush Administration's immigration policies and called for the return of the borderlands ceded to the US more than 150 years ago.

Souces: Norte, November 9, 11 and 12, 2006. Articles by Pablo Hernandez Batista and Salvador Castro. Diario de Juarez, November 7 and 11, 2006. Articles by Rocio Gallegos. Proceso/Apro, November 10, 2006. Article by Gabriela Hernandez. Frontera, November 10, 2006. Article by Fausto Ovalle. La Jornada, November 9 and 10, 2006. Articles by Carolina Gomez Mena and Jose Antonio Roman. Lapolaka.com, November 7, 8 and 12, 2006. Enlineadirecta.info, November 4, 2006. Article by Federico Zuniga Garcia.

Coping with the High Cost of Public Education

Under the Mexican Constitution, children are guaranteed a free, lay public education through middle school. In practice, however, more and more parents are digging deeper into their pockets to keep their young ones in the classroom. As school children flock back to schools in Mexican border and other cities, stationery stores, clothing outlets and street vendors are doing a brisk business with customers like Rosa Velia Perez. A mother of three school-age children, the Ciudad Juarez resident said that on a recent shopping day that she had spent $50 dollars even before making the most expensive purchases.

The back-to-school shopping season is a busy time for merchants like Ciudad Juarez stationery store owner Manuel Robles, who was recently forced to have customers form lines in order to serve them, but the start of the school year can translate into bouts of economic anxiety for factory and other low-income workers, especially those with more than one child in school.

A pre-school year survey by the Diario de Juarez newspaper estimated that public school parents in the Chihuahua state border city could spend up to $350 dollars per child during the 2006-2007 academic year for a variety of school-related costs including registration fees, uniforms, clothing, supplies and year-round transportation. The estimate doesn't include monthly tuition costs and other "voluntary" donations sometimes solicited throughout the school year.

Across the border region, parent complaints are widespread about having to fork out their hard-earned pesos to pay for a “free” public education. Some Mexican immigrants in the United States cite high educational costs in their home country as a motive for moving north.

Parent advocates charge that families are frequently pressured to pay registration fees and tuition. "The main problem we have is that (school) directors meddle in the affairs of the boards of directors of the parents' groups to force non-mandatory tuition payments," contended Marco Antonio Elejarza, the president of the Tamaulipas State Association of Parents.

Elejarza's complaint is a familiar one on the other side of border region in Baja California . In the first few weeks after registration got underway for the 2006-2007 school year, the Baja California Office of the Attorney General for Human Rights (PDH) accepted 54 complaints about illegal, mandatory tuition charges in public schools. Tijuana registered the majority of cases, with 36 separate complaints filed by early August.

Parents' organizations, elected officials and state authorities are tackling the problem of education costs in different ways. In Baja California , for instance, the PDH has launched a publicity campaign to inform parents where they can denounce legal violations. The official state human rights agency is also organizing a network of school-based parents' groups to monitor their schools' compliance with the law.

"Counting on this network of school observers, the PDH calls on the citizenry and mothers and fathers to join in and denounce improper charges, obligatory acquisitions of uniforms in certain businesses and mandatory retentions of documents during the start of classes," said Francisco Javier Sanchez Corona, Baja California's state human rights ombudsman.

Legislative action to bring educational costs in public schools under control has been under consideration in both Baja California and Chihuahua . This summer, the educational and scientific commission of the Chihuahua State Legislature discussed a proposal to establish an emergency fund so schools can assist needy families with uniforms, books and other supplies. A commission of the Tijuana city council recently passed a proposal urging the Baja California State Legislature to pass a law that sanctions schools for forcing parents to pay registration and other fees.

"The purpose of this (resolution) is to avoid the excesses, the abuses and the violations of rights that the directors of many schools in this city and state commit in collusion with members of parents' associations, in flagrant violation of Article 3 of the Constitution," said Carlos Mejia Lopez, a city councilman for the PRD party.

At the federal level, the Federal Office of the Attorney General for Consumer Protection (PROFECO) helped organize back-to-school fairs in Tijuana and other cities where shoppers were offered opportunities to purchase necessary school supplies from private businesses for discount prices of up to 50 percent. Children were also offered haircuts and physical exams for half the normal prices. Meanwhile, the PROFECO office in Tamaulipas state announced it was conducting store inspections to make sure businesses are complying with price norms for school-related articles and not gouging customers.

Sources: Diario de Juarez, July 26, August 2 and August 20, 2006 . Articles by Guadalupe Felix and Ramon Chaparro. Frontera, August 2, 8, 11 and 19, 2006. Articles by Ana Cecilia Ramirez, Manuel Villegas, Fausto Ovalle, and Norma Valenzuela. Enlineadirecta.info, July 27 and August 11, 2006 .

Articles by Hugo Reyna and Gaston Monge. Norte, July 27 and August 6, 2006. Articles by Hugo Hernandez Jauregui and Moises Tabares.

Sonora Governor Censors Textbook

Characterizing passages from a new textbook as not suitable for young eyes, Sonora Governor Eduardo Bours has ordered the reediting of the biology text. Carrying the stamp of approval of the federal Health Ministry, 40,000 copies of the book were slated for distribution to 636 public middle schools in Sonora . But Gov. Bours, who is a member of the Institutional Party of the Revolution, said sections of the controversial book that discusses human sexuality were objectionable.

"I don't have anything against anybody, (people) can do whatever they want," said Gov. Bours, commenting on supposed references in the book to homosexuality. "But for the love of God, it seems to me that certain things have to be undertaken with care, especially when it comes to a child of 11 or 12 years of age."

Anticipating public heat from his decision, Gov. Bours added that the book discusses reproduction outside the context of couples and family. "They can accuse me of whatever they like," he said, "but that book, that section, is not going to go out in Sonora ."

Horacio Soria , Sonora Secretary of Education, backed up Gov. Bours' decision. The border state education czar contended that the book contained "inappropriate" references to masturbation and homosexuality. According to Soria, the Sonora state government will spend about $140,000 dollars to have the biology book reedited before the acceptable version is sent to schools.

Sonora Archbishop Jose Ulises Macias Salcedo praised Gov. Bours' stance. "It's good that our rulers saw the opportunity and took the decision, which was risky and costly, to weigh in more on the side of principles and education," Archbishop Macias said. The Roman Catholic Church leader charged that the book presents the issue of sexuality in a difficult, coldly scientific manner without proper treatment of values.

The embattled biology textbook is part of a series of new texts that are generating cultural fights reminiscent of similar conflicts in the United States . In Mexico , opposition to the textbook series is being organized by the Catholic Church and conservative parents' groups. The Baja California state government, which is governed by the National Action Party, has also rejected use of at least one of the textbooks in its public middle schools.

Representing Catholic bishops, the Mexican Episcopal Conference, recently called upon the Public Education Ministry (SEP) to withdraw the disputed textbooks. An August 9 statement from the bishops upheld the family as the proper place for sex education. "School has a secondary function in this regard, and in education in general," the bishops said. In remarks last week, the SEP the textbooks would not be pulled from the schools.

Charged with approving and disseminating the new texts as part of a national middle school reform program, federal officials express puzzlement and frustration over the mounting controversy. Jorge Velasco y Felix, chief of the National Free Textbook Commission, disagreed with contentions that new text books are slipping through without proper reviews of their contents.

Contending that Mexico has real problems with life-threatening pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases in minors, Velasco y Felix said many families drop the ball when its come to educating their children about sex. Some even prefer to introduce male adolescents to the world of sex by dragging the youths into whorehouses, Velasco y Felix said.

While maintaining that he was respectful of all opinions, Health Minister Julio Frenk said the state has an obligation to give priority to scientific evidence. Frenk said, "It is well demonstrated that sex education based in the science of experts, as is done by the SEP, and with well-evaluated texts, is an essential tool for struggling against sexually-transmitted diseases and giving the youth and adolescents of Mexico a better preparation for their development."

Sources: Cambio Sonora , August 14, 2006 . La Jornada, August 9, 10 , 11, 12, 14, 2006. Articles by Angelica Enciso, Emir Olivares Alonso, Cristobal Garcia Bernal, Karina Aviles, and editorial staff.

The Privatization Boom in Post-Secondary Education

A recent controversy that involved a dispute over the academic credentials of a Chihuahua City branch of the CNCI University spotlighted the growing spread of privately-owned institutions of post-secondary education in Mexico . At the beginning of the 1980s, Mexico counted 87 privately-owned post-secondary schools. By May 2003, the number had soared to nearly 1,000 institutions nationwide. According to Mexico 's National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education, 33 percent of Mexican students enrolled in bachelor-level programs attended private schools during the 2003-2004 school year. Chihuahua City alone counts at least one dozen, privately-owned schools of higher education.

Varying considerably, the educational quality of private schools ranges from the deliverance of world-class, cutting-edge curriculum to classroom instruction of a dubious character. Many schools focus on preparing students for one or two professional careers. The federal Ministry of Public Education (SEP) officially recognizes studies in schools that can demonstrate the existence of a rigorous, high-quality educational program. But in Chihuahua City and other parts of Mexico , students have sometimes charged that they were duped into believing their studies had SEP recognition. According to the SEP, only 2,947 out of the 7,845 private, post-secondary educational study programs in the country had the federal agency's accreditation in July 2003.

Critics of the privatization boom trace the phenomenon to the economic crisis of the 1980s, when pressures from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other international institutions encouraged the Mexican government to restrict public spending. Educational decentralization, in which state education agencies assumed more authority from the federal government, is another factor in the proliferation of private schools. Schools that do have SEP recognition might, nonetheless, operate with the approval or knowledge of local officials.

Since the privatization shift, the non-public educational sector has become a new industry. Ironically, some of the private schools have received government subsidies to pay students' tuition. Helping fuel the boom is the inability of existing public institutions to accept all applicants. One estimate calculated that about 1.5 million youths were rejected admission to universities during the first five years of the Fox Administration

For the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a country is competitive when between 40-50 percent of young people in the post-secondary education age bracket are enrolled in a program of higher learning. In Mexico , only 24 percent of youth in the same category attended a post-secondary school in 2004. What's more, many students in post-secondary schools drop out during the course of their studies. In Baja California , for instance, an estimated 60 percent of higher education students leave school prematurely. Attributed to economic reasons, the drop-out rate is especially pronounced for students in social sciences programs. "This is worrisome," said Oscar Ortega Velez, Baja California 's assistant secretary of higher education.

Sources: El Diario de Chihuahua, May 7, 2006 . Article by Erika Perea. Frontera, March 17, 2006 . Article by Manuel Villegas. La Jornada, March 30 and July 28, 2003 ; December 13, 2004 ; May 5, 2005 . Articles by Jose Galan, Jesus Saavadera Lezama, Karen Aviles, and editorial staff.

Two Worlds Divide School Drop-Outs

A recent study of high school drop-outs in the United States cast additional light on the reasons students abandon school early while, unintentionally, contrasting the economic, educational and public policy gaps that persist on both sides of the US-Mexco border. In a study of 467 high school drop-outs conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, nearly half of all young people pointed to boredom as the principal reason for leaving the classroom without first graduating.

New Mexico Education Secretary Veronica Garcia said the study coincided with anecdotal evidence about the motivations for New Mexico high school drop-outs, who include large percentages of both Latino and Native American students. "I think it fits in with what I've been hearing from kids." Garcia said.

Youth interviewed in the Gates Foundation study gave other reasons for dropping out, including having babies, needing to work and falling behind in school work.

Across the state line in Chihuahua , Mexico , meanwhile, education officials in the border state recently said economics is still the driving factor behind the high drop-out rate. Guadalupe Chacon Monarrez, the Chihuahua state education secretary, said the pull of work, favored by the availability of jobs in the maquiladora assembly plant industry, lures many drop-outs who enter the workforce early to contribute to the family income.

Chacon said that many drop-outs are from hard-to-serve rural areas, where economic realities compel many children to leave school early. "The people in the Sierra are not very interested in finishing elementary and middle school," Chacon contended. "They are not interested in learning to read and write as they should, because their priority is to survive."

Another possible reason for high drop-out rates not mentioned by Chacon is insecurity. Some parents in the Sierra Tarahumara are reportedly disallowing their children to attend school out of fear they will be accosted by drug traffickers and exposed to drug abuse, which now is reported at the elementary school level.

Eva Trujillo Rodriguez, a technical advisor to the Chihuahua state education ministry, said other forces account for school drop-outs, which she added are not always accurately tracked. According to Trujillo , a high internal mobility rate, out-migration and deaths all enter into the picture. Statistics gathered by Mexico 's National Women's Institute report that only 26.8 percent of males and 25.2 percent of females finish high school in Chihuahua state. The graduation rates are below the Mexican national averages of 28.8 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively.

New Mexico , which hosts a large number of immigrant students from Chihuahua in its public schools, reported a 5.2 percent high school drop-out rate for the 2003-2004 school year, a number many observers consider far below the real dropout rate-especially for Latino students.

Sources: Albuquerque Journal, March 4, 2006. Article by Gabriela C. Guzman. Reuters, March 2, 2006. Article by Patricia Wilson. El Diario de El Paso /El Diario de Chihuahua, February 23, 2006. Article by Oksana Volchanskaya. Profile of Women and Men in Mexico , 2003 and 2004. Study by the National Women's Institute.

Missing: Mexican Students in Higher Education

Mexican nationals enrolled in United States institutions of higher learning continue to be outnumbered by students from other nations. Patricia Munoz, the spokesperson for the US

Consulate in Ciudad Juarez , said figures provided by a 2005 report from the Open Doors program showed the percentage of Mexican nationals among the 562,321 foreign students attending US universities did not even reach three percent.

Speaking at a recent forum held in Ciudad Juarez , Jon Amastae, the director of the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), commented that the potentialities of cross-border higher education weren´t adequately addressed in the North American Free Trade Agreement. In contrast to Mexico , Amastae said the following nations were the sources of far greater numbers of foreign students in the US : China , 50,000; India , 50,000; Pakistan , 45,000; and Taiwan , 35,000.

”(International education) is a big business, ” Amastae said. “It´s a key element in international business between the United States and the rest of the world...(foreign students) bring a lot of money to the United States.¨

Amastae added that 15 percent of the 10,000-plus Mexican students in US universities attend one school, UTEP. Historically tuition costs at the University of Texas´ El Paso campus have been low in comparison to other institutions, but like other universities the cost of getting an education at the border campus is creeping upward. Administrators have proposed tuition hikes for both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 academic years which, if implemented, will increase the cost of a full-time undergraduate education from $2,000 dollars per semester this year to $2,290 dollars in 2007-2008.

Source: Norte, November 20, 2005. Articles by Cesar Ruiz and Javier Kuramura.

Educational Scorecard Released

Grading schools is in vogue on both sides of the border. In Sonora , state authorities released last week an assessment of student performance in the state's elementary and middle schools. Covering 2,351 schools, both public and private, the evaluation rated school performance based on students' reading comprehension and mathematics skills for the 2004-2005 academic year. Most educational institutions were graded as being at or below standards.

The assessment was the second time the State of Sonora rated schools according to students' performance. More schools were included in the latest scorecard, giving somewhat of a broader picture of students' academic abilities in the border state. A total of 1,731 elementary schools and 620 middle schools were included in the survey. The results announced by state education officials categorized 1,298 schools as meeting standards; 372 as above standard; 203 as excellent; and 478 as below standard. The number of students evaluated in the educational scorecard rose from 227, 458 pupils in 2003-2004, the first year of the assessment, to 386, 103 in 2004-2005.

In response to the evaluation, Sonora Governor Eduardo Bours called for the redoubling of efforts to wipe out educational inequities and prepare students for competition in the global marketplace. "We don't need to know where we came from but where we are going," Gov. Bours said. "That's why I congratulate the teachers for their participation."

Educational authorities did not comment on the socio-economic characteristics of the evaluated schools, but Jose Luis Ibarra Apodaca, the general director of state educational evaluation, said elementary schools that have involved parents possessing at least a basic education showed the best results. Ibarra said another factor favoring student performance was having a computer at home. Sonora state officials did not immediately say whether the evaluation would lead to changes in their state's educational system.

Sources: Nuevo Dia ( Nogales ), November 10, 2005. La Jornada, November 10, 2005. Article by Cristobal Garcia Bernal.

A Huge Educational Deficit

 Chihuahua state authorities are alarmed at statistics revealing that almost half of Ciudad Juarez residents older than 15 years of age haven't finished the 8th grade. Based on recent data gathered by the federal government's National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI), state education officials figure that about 428,384 of 914, 904 Juarez residents above the age of 15, or about 46.8 percent of the demographic group, haven't concluded their middle school studies. Hector Hernandez Garcia, the regional delegate of the Chihuahua Adult Education Institute (ICHEA), judged the news as worrisome.

"The lack of education or studies causes a grave social problem," said Hernandez, "because these people lack the elements of knowledge for making decisions that allow them to have better conditions of life." Hernandez estimated that as many as 900,000 people statewide in Chihuahua might not have a middle school education. Out of the total group not completing the 8th grade in Ciudad Juarez, the ICHEA calculates that 19,544 are illiterates; 121, 252 are elementary school graduates; and 287, 578 lack a full middle school education.

 Hernandez attributed the educational deficit to a number of factors. According to the education official, the availability of work not requiring higher education, family economic pressures forcing people to abandon school early, and the shortfall in public educational resources all play a part. As a border city drawing newcomers from various parts of the Mexican republic, Ciudad Juarez attracts people whose main goal is to find work,  Hernandez said. Many arrive solely for the purpose of crossing into the United States but get trapped on the Mexican side, he added. 

 The ICHEA's Ciudad Juarez chief commented that the existence of a large pool of people without studies beyond middle school presents a problem during a time when higher education is needed to obtain better employment and improve living standards. Hernandez said people who don't go beyond middle school will likely find their job options limited to marginal occupations like fire-breathing at intersections or even prostituting themselves and engaging in criminal pursuits. 

 Source: Norte, July 22, 2005. Article by Teofilo Alvarado.

High Failure Rate Blamed on Slacker Students

 It’s a lack of motivation and not an incapacity for learning that’s driving the high middle school failure rate, according to a Ciudad Juarez educational administrator. Juan Alberto Montes Contreras, the director of  Federal Middle School #1 in Ciudad Juarez, commented in an interview with Ciudad Juarez’s daily Norte newspaper that an over reliance on educational technology combined with a disinterest in reading are causing many students to flunk their classes, especially mathematics, chemistry, physics, and Spanish. “These young people are not stupid at all,” said Montes. “What’s happening is that they are lazy.”  According to Montes, about 25 percent of students in Chihuahua state flunk their courses.  Montes complained that students as well as teachers are losing their ability to reason and apply critical thinking skills, relying instead on calculators, computer spelling programs and other gadgets to perform simple adding and writing tasks.  Technology-dependent students are in abundant evidence even in elementary school, he said.  

“We are not teaching them to be logical in their reasoning,” said Montes. “We use (technological) methods too much.” Added to the problem of “mechanized” learning, said Montes, is the unwillingness of many young people to crack open a book. “We are losing the love for culture,” lamented the middle school leader. “If people don’t read, they will not be able to understand the basic rules of spelling and editing.”  Montes warned that students who expect to pass their classes simply by showing up and occupying a seat are in trouble, because current academic standards require students to master at least 60 percent of the subject material in order to achieve a passing score.

 Carlota Amelia Maldonado Lucero, a curriculum supervisor, said failed students can’t expect to always benefit from extra courses offered by the schools since the classes are geared for test preparation. Maldonado said students need to keep up with their regular classes to stay ahead of the curve. In Montes’ view, additional parent and teacher attention is the best remedy for problem pupils. The educator also suggested that automated teaching methods be scrapped.

 Source: Norte, July 16, 2005. Article by Cesar Ruiz.

School's Out for Summer

 It's finally over. Mexican schools began emptying late last week, and beach resorts started welcoming the first wave of tourists as the 2004-2005 school year drew to a close. In Tijuana, state education officials, parents and students on Friday celebrated the occasion with a mass ceremony in front of the Tijuana Cultural Center. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators listened to music, heard speakers and recognized outstanding students.

Among the special guests were Children's Governor Xochitl Melissa Sayago Mirana, and the winners of contests in history, geography, civics, and knowledge. Special recognition was also given to four special education students who were integrated into regular classrooms during the school year. David Reyes Yanez, Baja California assistant secretary of education, urged parents to continue supporting their children's education. He said the co-participation of parents and teachers in a child's education was vital. Teresa Sanchez Ramirez, the mother of students Carmelo and Guadalupe Alejos Sanchez, praised teachers at the Rosario Castellanos Elementary School for devoting good attention to their pupils at the school. An estimated 294,000 students from 1,800 schools completed the school year in Tijuana alone. Classes begin again in August. According to Assistant Education Secretary Reyes, the biggest portion of Baja California's state budget is spent on public education.

 Source: Frontera, July 2, 2005. Article by Nashiely Dominguez  

 Laredo Teens to College Instead of Prison

 Thanks to a gang intervention program, Erick Emmanuel Trevino and his friend Jose Alfredo Armenta look forward to attending college classes rather than wasting away their days behind bars. The Laredo, Texas, teens were among 25 former gang members who graduated from the border city’s LBJ High School this year. The young men credit a gang intervention program operated by the United Independent School District (UISD) for redirecting their lives. “Four years ago, when I got here, LBJ was a tough school, especially because it was a new school,” said gang intervention facilitator Joe Espinoza. “Gangs would plan activities in the summer to see who would control the school.” Espinoza contended that UISD’s gang intervention program has curbed the influence of gangs at LBJ. Unlike many schools which don’t count on extra personnel to intervene in gang-related issues,

UISD provides facilitators for each of the four high schools as well as a roving facilitator for middle-schools.  The gang specialists give classroom presentations, identify gang members, contact parents, conduct house visits, and convene counseling sessions.  At least 20 street gangs operate in Laredo and the nearby communities of Rio Bravo and El Cenizo. Some of the youth gangs maintain ties to older prison-based gangs, and fights over neighborhood turf and drug money are common. Trevino and Armenta said they joined the Rio Bravo gang because of alienation, peer pressure and physical threats posed by the rival El Cenizo gang.

 (editor’s note: Rio Bravo and El Cenizo are two colonias, or underdeveloped communities, inhabited by many Mexican-born immigrants and located south of Laredo proper.  The colonias’ residents have long  struggled for political representation, basic services, education, and jobs.  With few opportunities in their communities, many colonia residents commute to Laredo for employment.)

 “When you’re in a gang, you feel pride. You say, These are my people. You feel untouchable,” said Trevino. “When I was in the gang, I would just see another guy from El Cenizo and I would get mad and want to fight him,” said Armenta. “Sometime I’d ask myself why do we hate them, but to tell you the truth, I don’t know the answer.” Now distanced from gang life,  Armenta will enroll in Texas A&M International University this fall.  He plans to study criminal justice and play soccer. Trevino, meanwhile, is considering moving to Austin and attending the University of Texas, where he has been accepted.  

 Source: Laredo Morning Times, May 30, 2005. Article by Tricia Cortez.

Baja California Behind Other Border States and National Average in Math and Reading

An international education assessment completed by the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks Baja California below Mexico's national average in the areas of math, reading, and science.  The study, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), was conducted among junior high and high school students in Baja California.  Both private and public schools participated in the Baja California part of the study. 

All of Mexico's 31 states participated in the assessment with the exception of Michoacán.  The Mexicali newspaper La Crónica did not indicate why Michoacán was not part of the study.

Mexico's Federal District, which is not considered a state but still participated in PISA, ranked second in math, science and reading.  In first place in all of these categories was the small, Pacific-coast state Colima.  Aguascalientes ranked third in all three categories. 

Baja California ranked 17th in math, 21st in reading, and 18th in science.  

Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, two other northern border states with large border cities that have experienced much immigration over past decades, did much better than Baja California.  Both states ranked among the top eight in Mexico in reading, math and science. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), December 15, 2004.