You are on page 1of 6

Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 1

Education in Mexico

Mexico has been steadily improving in the education field. Numbers have risen

drastically since 1950 to the 2015-2016 school year with the amount of people that have

enrolled in school. In 1950, there were 3.25 million students and by 2015 there were 36.3

million students attending school. Policies have been recently changing in the past few

years, which definitely made a contribution to the success in the school systems. In 2004,

the policy that everyone receives one year of preschool had been made mandatory

nationwide. Then in 2012, it was made mandatory that all students complete upper-

secondary education. This is twelve years of elementary and secondary study. These

elements have definitely been a major help with education. By placing students in

preschool and through the end of upper secondary education, this follows the policy of

the UN Global Education Initiative of putting every child in school. These policies have

had a huge impact on how many students complete school. According to the World Bank

website, the percentage of the completion rate for students has increased steadily over the

years. In 2008, 95.4% of the population completed school. However, by 2010, 104.7% of

the population completed school. This is a pretty big increase with practically everyone

completing grade school in 2010. The literacy rate has also been improving over the

years. To be considered literate a person needs to be 15 years of age, or older and be

able to read and write. This goes along with the second factor to improve quality of

learning. You can see from the percents that the quality of learning is increasing in

Mexico because more and more people are becoming literate. In 2010, 93.07% of the

population was literate and by 2014 94.56% of the population was literate. You can see
Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 2

that the numbers are increasing, which can be a sign of the improvement in education

within the schools.

The school system that is required for students, has been pretty constant. As stated

before, each child gets one free year of preschool. Following that, they attend primary

school. This is for six years and goes from grades 1 to 6. The National Institute for

Assessment of Education monitors the standards at these schools. After this, the students

move on to lower secondary education. This is from grades 7 to 9. The requirement to get

into lower secondary schools is typically to have completed primary school and some

schools also give entrance exams. Unlike primary school, the State Department of

Education decides subjects and content that is taught at these schools. Following 9th grade

comes upper secondary education. This is grades 10 to 12. Upper secondary education

has been mandatory for all students since 2012. When a student attends one of these

schools, there are different options. There is SEP controlled schools, state controlled

schools and administered by autonomous universities. SEP controlled schools are

controlled by a part of the federal government. SEP stands for the Secretariat of Public

Education. They oversee development and implementations of the national education

policy and school standards. Standard exams are used for admission into SEP schools.

Once a student completes 12th grade, they have the choice to move onto higher education.

The percentage of students attending a university, in Mexico, has also been increasing

over the years. In the 2015-2016 school year, 3.6 million people have been attending

universities. 70% of the universities are public and a lot of them are highly recognizable.

The recognition of these schools shows how the quality of education has been improving.
Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 3

Some of the schools in Mexico have been looked at as Ivy League level and have

obtained a lot of respect and prestige. The admission into these types of schools depends

on a students grade point average and their scores on entrance exams. Overall, you can

see that more and more people have been attending schools and the rate of education has

been increasing. Since the policy came about that makes it mandatory for every child to

attend school until 12th grade, you can see an improvement in learning. From the

percentages, you can see that the amount of people completing school has risen along

with the literacy rates have improved significantly.

Over the past few years, one can see how the status of education has improved in

Mexico. It seems as if the country as a whole, has been putting a lot of effort into the

education system, which has had a positive impact. More and more people are attending

and graduating school and even moving on to higher education. Even though over 50% of

international students go to the US for college, higher education in Mexico is still

expanding. Colleges in Mexico have been improving their quality of learning for their

students by being recognized across the world as being prestige schools. This is attracting

more and more people to attend these schools, which in return is helping improve the

education system.
Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 4

This graph shows how


the literacy rate has
improved over the years.
It shows how many
Literacy by Gender
This graph shows the literacy
peoplerates by gender.
can read and You could see
how the curve for each gender increases
write over the ageover the years.
of 15.
You can see how in 1980
there was about 83% of
the population that could,
but by 2009 about 93%
of the population could.
Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 5
Completion rate in %

This graph shows the percentage of people that complete


school in Mexico. You can see how there has been a steady
increase over the years. You can see by 2014 the percentage
of people completing school is over 100%.
Melissa Geffken Education in Mexico 6

Works Cited:

Pictures:

Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group). (n.d.). Retrieved March 29,

2017, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.CMPT.ZS?

locations=MX&view=chart

All products require an annual contract. Prices do not include sales tax (New York

residents only). (n.d.). Mexico - Literacy rate 2015 | Statistic. Retrieved March 29,

2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/275443/literacy-rate-in-mexico/

Alman, S. (1970, January 01). MEXICO. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from

http://shantalaleman.blogspot.com/2015/10/mexico_27.html

Websites:

Maganizer, J. (2016, August 16). Education in Mexico . Retrieved March 29, 2017, from

http://wenr.wes.org/2016/08/education-in-mexico

Education System in Mexico. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from

http://www.classbase.com/countries/Mexico/Education-System

You might also like