Introduction
The Secretariat of Public Education is in charge of monitoring and controlling the educational system in Mexico. This government Ministry is responsible for determining all educational standards at all levels, with the exception of “independent” universities that have been chartered by the government. Accreditation of private schools is achieved by the submission of required paperwork for approval and registration with this organization.
The Constitution of 1917 states that education should not give special favors to any particular religion (which was a change from previous educational systems) and that no one religion or its followers are allowed to be given preference in education over members of other religions. Religious instruction is not allowed in public schools; nevertheless, religious organizations are free to run private schools, even if these institutions do not get funding from the government. In order to receive free education at a public school in Mexico, a citizen’s birth certificate or passport is required.
In accordance with the student’s age and current level of knowledge, Mexico’s educational system is broken up into several distinct levels, just as it is in the majority of other countries. These include:
Preschool, often known as “Pre-escolar,” refers to educational programs financed by the federal government for children ages 4 and 5.
The Elementary Level (Primaria). Schools that offer grades 1 through 6 and have at least one instructor assigned to each grade. In addition, multi-grade classrooms (also known as Multigrados) are part of this level. Multi-grade classrooms might be one-room schools with a single instructor for grades 1 through 6 or multi-grade schools with multiple teachers who each teach more than one grade.
Lower Secondary Schools, also known as Secundarias, are schools that accept the majority of students from non-rural areas in grades 7-9, including pupils who intend to attend college. Students in this age range (12-15) have the option of enrolling in Tecnicas, which are schools that offer vocational training for students who do not intend to attend college, or Telesecundarias, which are rural schools that offer a televised curriculum and enroll the majority of students from rural areas.
Schools of the Upper Secondary Level Students in grades 10 through 12 attend upper secondary schools, sometimes known as high school (ages 15-18). This level encompasses both Preparatorias and Bachilleratos, which are schools for high school students who are planning to continue their education at the collegiate level. At these schools, students are required to pick one of the following four professional areas: physical-mathematics, chemical-biology, economic-administrative, or humanities. This level also contains schools known as Tecnnologicas and Comercios, which are geared toward students who are interested in pursuing specific types of vocational careers.
Education from Kindergarten through the Primary Levels in Mexico
Although it is not required by law, preschool education is considered an essential component of Mexico’s educational system and is attended by about seven out of ten children between the ages of three and four. In Mexico, kindergarten education is considered an important part of basic education. Preschool is attended by around 83 percent of children who are five years old. In addition to providing preschool education, numerous government entities also provide nursery or day care services (guardera) for children who are younger than three years old. Services pertaining to education, health, and welfare are provided to both infants and their parents at this stage.
Primary education in Mexico begins for children at the age of six, with the first grade, and lasts for a total of six years, until the conclusion of grade six. Although the age range for pupils in elementary school is between 6 and 11 years, over 1.2 million primary school children in Mexico, or 7.5 percent of the total, are older than 12 years old. There are around 16 of the 31 states in Mexico that have graduation rates that are lower than the national average. This results in approximately 70 percent of Mexican adults aged 15 and older having completed elementary school. For instance, in the state of Chiapas, just 43.5% of the population aged 15 and older has completed primary education. This percentage is lower than the national average
Despite the fact that there is little difference between males and females in terms of elementary or primary school completion (72 to 69 percent, respectively), only 44 percent of females in this age bracket in the Chiapas region account for those who have completed all six years of elementary school, which is 9.5 percentage points lower than men.
Primary education in Mexico can be obtained in a variety of formats, including general, bilingual-bicultural, community education, and education for adults. The first and second grade students attend school for a total of twenty hours each week, and their curriculum includes instruction in the following subjects: Spanish, mathematics, art, physical education, and “environmental knowledge,” which includes instruction in the fields of history, geography, and civic education. Students continue to take the classes that were indicated above from the third grade all the way through the sixth grade, during which time the material covered in these classes becomes progressively more challenging. Reading, writing, and oral expression are all given a lot of attention in the lessons that are taught. Children spend forty-five percent of their total class time learning Spanish in the first two grades, but from the third through the sixth grade, they devote only thirty percent of their time to learning Spanish. More than four decades ago, the national government began providing free textbooks to children in elementary school. On a scale that goes from 1 to 10, a grade of at least 6 is required to move on to the next level of primary education.
From 1990 to 2012, there was a one-third increase in the number of students enrolled in indigenous and community elementary schools. Only the most impoverished and remote parts of the country provide access to this kind of educational opportunity. 95 percent of Mexico’s 50,636 rural schools offer some form of community education as a part of their curriculum. Community education programs are provided to each and every indigenous school.
There are a combined total of 99,176 primary schools as well as 72,650 preschools in Mexico. The number of educators working in preschools is 155,777, while the number of instructors employed in primary schools is 545,717. This phenomena was highlighted by an examination of school attendance rates across age groups in the year 2000 in both urban and rural areas. In general, the rural areas tend to be less favored educationally than the urban centers. The percentage of children between the ages of 6 and 14 who were enrolled in school in areas with a population of less than 15,000 was 89 percent, while the percentage of children enrolled in school in communities with more than 15,000 inhabitants was 95 percent. When compared, schools that serve students in the age category of 15 to 19 years old witnessed a decline in attendance.
Education through the Secondary Level in Mexico
Upper secondary education, also known as secundaria, and lower secondary education, also known as secundaria, are the two distinct levels that make up Mexico’s secondary education system. Since the school year 1993, students have been required to attend secondary school as part of their fundamental education. Lower secondary is comprised of three grades: seventh, eighth, and ninth, and it can be taken in a variety of formats, such as traditional classroom instruction, online learning through tele-secondary schools, or on-the-job training. Students between the ages of 12 and 16 who have finished their elementary schooling are eligible to continue their education at the lower secondary level. Students who are older than 16 years of age have the option of obtaining a secondary education through one of the other accessible modalities, which include secondary schools for workers or secondary schools for adults. In Mexico, there are currently more than 29,000 secondary schools for students in lower levels of education, with 2,462,000 females and 2,608,000 males attending. There are a total of 307,763 educators making up the teaching staff. The distribution of free books appropriate for students at this educational level was initiated by the government in 1997 and targeted the most underserved parts of the country.
At the secondary level of school, the curriculum places an emphasis, similar to that found in the basic grades, on the necessity of honing one’s spoken and written abilities in the Spanish language. At the same time, a significant focus is also placed on mathematical concepts. Students in Secundaria spend an average of five hours per week on education that is linked to language, and they spend the same amount of hours on instruction that is related to mathematics. In addition, students in the seventh grade, who are entering their first year of lower secondary education, are expected to participate in a class labeled “physics and chemistry.” The subjects of physics, chemistry, and biology are broken off into their own classes for students in grades 8 and 9. The learning of a foreign language, most frequently English or French, is given a significant amount of priority throughout the lower secondary education level. The expression and enjoyment of the arts, physical education, and technological education are some of the other classes offered.
Telesecondary schools are institutions that provide secondary education via distance learning on a digital platform. Children who live in remote villages with a population of 2,500 persons or less, or communities with a lower secondary school enrollment that is too low to create a school, are eligible for this program. The system was first implemented in 1968, and since then it has grown to provide services to towns in many Central American countries as well as border areas in the United States. More than one million young people in Mexico were receiving this form of education during the school year that began in 2012. The rate of students who quit school is approximately 9.2 percent, whereas the percentage of students who graduate is an amazing 76.1 percent.
Upper secondary education is the second and final level of the secondary school system. Students who have finished the first nine grades of their obligatory education are eligible to enroll in this level of education, which offers various different alternatives. This category contains three subsystems: general upper secondary, which includes open and distance upper secondary education; technical professional education, which trains qualified professionals in a variety of fields; and technological upper secondary, which provides students with the opportunity to obtain degrees as professional technicians and prepares them to continue their education in higher education. The bachiller colleges (abbreviated as CB), preparatoria schools, science and humanities colleges (abbreviated as CCH), and integrated bachilleratos are the institutions that provide the general upper secondary education (incorporated to a state or federal university).
College of Professional Technical Education (CONALEP), State Institutes for Work training (ICATE, operated by state governments), State Colleges for Scientific and Technological Studies (CECyTE), Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Studies (CETIS, coordinated by the federal government), and Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Bachillerato (CBTIS, coordinated by the federal government) are the institutions that offer technical professional education. Other institutions that offer this type of education include: and (ESEO, coordinated by the National Polytechnic Institute). CETIS, CBTIS, Centers for Technical and Industrial Studies, CECyTE, Centers for Ocean Technological Studies (CETMar, coordinated by the federal government), Centers for Continental Water Studies (CETAC, coordinated by the federal government), Centers for Farming and Agricultural Technological Bachillerato (TA, coordinated by the federal government), and Centers for Forestry Technological Bachillerato all provide technological upper secondary education to students (CBTF, coordinated by the federal government).
Basic training, professional training, and work training make up the three pillars that support the structure of upper-level secondary education. The development of scientific, technological, and humanistic knowledge is accomplished through general basic instruction. In addition to this, students are instructed in research technique and linguistic proficiency. The Bachillerato educational system provides free upper secondary education to students. Open upper secondary schools were initially intended to serve adults who were unable to continue their education after they graduated from lower secondary school; nevertheless, in recent years, they have become an increasingly popular alternative for young people between the ages of 14 and 18. This service is provided at no cost and is wholly supported monetarily by the federal as well as state governments. In 1995, individual states started implementing this method of educational provision. There are 22 facilities spread out throughout ten different states, and Mexico City is one of them. The objective of the technical professional education is to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform duties at an intermediate level in the workplace, such as the supervision, control, and assessment of production procedures. This subsystem of education was developed with the goal of satisfying demand for students and workers at both the regional and national levels. Students who graduate from these kinds of colleges are qualified to work as professional technicians, technical professionals, or entry-level technicians, respectively.
A technological upper secondary school is a type of education that provides students with the unique opportunity to acquire both expertise in a specific technological field and to learn the fundamental building blocks that are taught in bachillerato schools. This type of education is referred to as a “bachillerato.” Graduates of these schools have the option of immediately entering the workforce as professional technicians or continuing their study at a higher level. Approximately 3 million pupils are enrolled in this particular component of upper secondary school. Among all of the students, 59 percent are enrolled in the regular bachillerato, while 13 percent are attending technical professional schools and 28 percent are attending the technology bachillerato. There are around 10,000 secondary schools that are considered to be upper level, and these institutions are staffed by approximately 200,000 teachers.
In Mexico, some of the public state universities, as well as the National Autonomous University (UNAM), also provide an education for students in their senior year of high school. There are currently thirty universities in the state that provide educational possibilities that can lead to a preparatoria (high school) diploma or an associate’s degree. Preparatorias are essential components of universities because they equip students with the skills they need to succeed once they do enroll in college.
Secondary Education in Mexico
Upper secondary education, also known as secundaria, and lower secondary education, also known as secundaria, are the two distinct levels that make up Mexico’s secondary education system. Since the school year 1993, students have been required to attend secondary school as part of their fundamental education. Lower secondary is comprised of three grades: seventh, eighth, and ninth, and it can be taken in a variety of formats, such as traditional classroom instruction, online learning through tele-secondary schools, or on-the-job training. Students between the ages of 12 and 16 who have finished their elementary schooling are eligible to continue their education at the lower secondary level. Students who are older than 16 years of age have the option of obtaining a secondary education through one of the other accessible modalities, which include secondary schools for workers or secondary schools for adults. In Mexico, there are currently more than 29,000 secondary schools for students in lower levels of education, with 2,462,000 females and 2,608,000 males attending. There are a total of 307,763 educators making up the teaching staff. The distribution of free books appropriate for students at this educational level was initiated by the government in 1997 and targeted the most underserved parts of the country.
At the secondary level of school, the curriculum places an emphasis, similar to that found in the basic grades, on the necessity of honing one’s spoken and written abilities in the Spanish language. At the same time, a significant focus is also placed on mathematical concepts. Students in Secundaria spend an average of five hours per week on education that is linked to language, and they spend the same amount of hours on instruction that is related to mathematics. In addition, students in the seventh grade, who are entering their first year of lower secondary education, are expected to participate in a class labeled “physics and chemistry.” The subjects of physics, chemistry, and biology are broken off into their own classes for students in grades 8 and 9. The learning of a foreign language, most frequently English or French, is given a significant amount of priority throughout the lower secondary education level. The expression and enjoyment of the arts, physical education, and technological education are some of the other classes offered.
Telesecondary schools are institutions that provide secondary education via distance learning on a digital platform. Children who live in remote villages with a population of 2,500 persons or less, or communities with a lower secondary school enrollment that is too low to create a school, are eligible for this program. The system was first implemented in 1968, and since then it has grown to provide services to towns in many Central American countries as well as border areas in the United States. More than one million young people in Mexico were receiving this form of education during the school year that began in 2012. The rate of students who quit school is approximately 9.2 percent, whereas the percentage of students who graduate is an amazing 76.1 percent.
Upper secondary education is the second and final level of the secondary school system. Students who have finished the first nine grades of their obligatory education are eligible to enroll in this level of education, which offers various different alternatives. This category contains three subsystems: general upper secondary, which includes open and distance upper secondary education; technical professional education, which trains qualified professionals in a variety of fields; and technological upper secondary, which provides students with the opportunity to obtain degrees as professional technicians and prepares them to continue their education in higher education. The bachiller colleges (abbreviated as CB), preparatoria schools, science and humanities colleges (abbreviated as CCH), and integrated bachilleratos are the institutions that provide the general upper secondary education (incorporated to a state or federal university).
College of Professional Technical Education (CONALEP), State Institutes for Work training (ICATE, operated by state governments), State Colleges for Scientific and Technological Studies (CECyTE), Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Studies (CETIS, coordinated by the federal government), and Centers for Industrial and Services Technological Bachillerato (CBTIS, coordinated by the federal government) are the institutions that offer technical professional education. Other institutions that offer this type of education include: and (ESEO, coordinated by the National Polytechnic Institute). CETIS, CBTIS, Centers for Technical and Industrial Studies, CECyTE, Centers for Ocean Technological Studies (CETMar, coordinated by the federal government), Centers for Continental Water Studies (CETAC, coordinated by the federal government), Centers for Farming and Agricultural Technological Bachillerato (TA, coordinated by the federal government), and Centers for Forestry Technological Bachillerato all provide technological upper secondary education to students (CBTF, coordinated by the federal government).
Basic training, professional training, and work training make up the three pillars that support the structure of upper-level secondary education. The development of scientific, technological, and humanistic knowledge is accomplished through general basic instruction. In addition to this, students are instructed in research technique and linguistic proficiency. The Bachillerato educational system provides free upper secondary education to students. Open upper secondary schools were initially intended to serve adults who were unable to continue their education after they graduated from lower secondary school; nevertheless, in recent years, they have become an increasingly popular alternative for young people between the ages of 14 and 18. This service is provided at no cost and is wholly supported monetarily by the federal as well as state governments. In 1995, individual states started implementing this method of educational provision. There are 22 facilities spread out throughout ten different states, and Mexico City is one of them. The objective of the technical professional education is to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform duties at an intermediate level in the workplace, such as the supervision, control, and assessment of production procedures. This subsystem of education was developed with the goal of satisfying demand for students and workers at both the regional and national levels. Students who graduate from these kinds of colleges are qualified to work as professional technicians, technical professionals, or entry-level technicians, respectively.
A technological upper secondary school is a type of education that provides students with the unique opportunity to acquire both expertise in a specific technological field and to learn the fundamental building blocks that are taught in bachillerato schools. This type of education is referred to as a “bachillerato.” Graduates of these schools have the option of immediately entering the workforce as professional technicians or continuing their study at a higher level. Approximately 3 million pupils are enrolled in this particular component of upper secondary school. Among all of the students, 59 percent are enrolled in the regular bachillerato, while 13 percent are attending technical professional schools and 28 percent are attending the technology bachillerato. There are around 10,000 secondary schools that are considered to be upper level, and these institutions are staffed by approximately 200,000 teachers.
In Mexico, some of the public state universities, as well as the National Autonomous University (UNAM), also provide an education for students in their senior year of high school. There are currently thirty universities in the state that provide educational possibilities that can lead to a preparatoria (high school) diploma or an associate’s degree. Preparatorias are essential components of universities because they equip students with the skills they need to succeed once they do enroll in college.
Higher Education in Mexico
Mexico’s higher education system has seen significant advancements in recent years, enabling it to better prepare students for entry into the industry in a range of different professional disciplines.
Mexico’s higher education landscape is currently composed of five distinct subsystems, which are as follows:
- Universities open to the public
- Institutions devoted to technology
- Technological universities
- Institutions that are not public
- Institutions that prepare future teachers
Mexico is home to roughly 1,300 different colleges and universities that offer higher education. In the past, colleges had a significant amount of legal autonomy due to the fact that they operated under their own internal statutes. On the other hand, they were fully included into the country’s educational system in 1973.
Mexico is home to roughly 220 universities, as reported by the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education. 45 of them are public institutions, which together are responsible for doing approximately half of the academic research that is done in Mexico. These educational institutions accept a total of 52 percent of students who are seeking an undergraduate degree and 48 percent of students who are pursuing a graduate degree.
In Mexico, there are around 150 different technological colleges that provide higher education to students. The Ministry of Education (SEP) is responsible for coordinating 102 of them, while state governments are responsible for coordinating the remaining 98.
Over 150 different kinds of private universities may be found in Mexico; the Catholic Church owns and manages a significant number of these institutions. Accreditation may be granted to these educational institutions either by the SEP, the governments of individual states, or by other public academic institutions that are authorized to grant accreditation. In Mexico, undergraduate students at private institutions of higher education make up 27.6 percent of the total, while graduate students at private schools make up 36.5 percent of the total.
Preschool education, elementary school education, secondary school education, special education, and physical education are some of the areas of study that can be pursued for a bachelor’s degree in teacher training colleges in Mexico. The amount of time spent in school might range anywhere from four to six years depending on the kind of degree being pursued. There are currently about 220 public and 137 private schools of teacher education in the United States. Together, these schools enroll approximately 12 percent of the total student population that is pursuing higher education degrees.
Completion of upper secondary school is a prerequisite for admission to any and all academic institutions of higher education. In many colleges, students must first demonstrate their academic prowess by passing an admissions test before being allowed to enroll in a particular degree program or university overall.
The higher education institutions in Mexico do not have a common structure for their academic organizations. It is true that certain educational institutions have implemented departmental organizational structures, although this is more the exception than the norm. The length of time it takes to complete a course of study can differ significantly from one educational establishment to the next. Some institutions schedule their classes according to the semester, while others use the quarter system. The criteria for graduation can also change based on the subject matter and depth of the studies. Exams, writing assignments, and oral presentations are the primary ways that the vast majority of students are evaluated on their level of knowledge. When it comes to the certification of studies, the performance of students on the job in technological institutions has a significant amount of weight when applicable. Students have a variety of options available to them in order to earn professional degrees. The presenting of written work (often a thesis, dissertation, or monographic report) in front of an examining committee is a requirement at many educational institutions. Additionally, in addition to Spanish, students may be expected to demonstrate comprehension in either one or two additional languages.HISTORY OF LEBANON
