Lack of resources and pandemic encourage dropout at the higher level: Graue

Jessica Xanthomilla

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday March 20, 2022, p. 9

As the age of young people and their educational level advances, a higher percentage of them stop studying, especially due to lack of resources, said the rector Enrique Graue. In his 2021 work report, he referred that, according to Inegi data, in the last school year only 31.6 percent of young people between the ages of 19 and 24 were studying, and of the group that did not, 12.5 percent went for lack of resources.

While among those between 16 and 18 years of age, 63.1 percent were studying, and of those who were not, 6.8 percent were due to covid-19 and 5.6 percent due to not having enough resources.

The Survey for the Measurement of the Covid-19 Impact on Education 2020 also showed that among young people between 25 and 29 years old, only 8.6 percent were studying, and of those who did not, 20 percent were due to working conditions, 10.9 percent percent due to lack of resources, 2.1 percent due to covid-19 and 58.3 percent due to another cause.

In his report, still marked by the suspension of face-to-face classes due to the pandemic, Graue also pointed out that, added to these difficulties, there are those related to Internet access and devices so that students could connect to online classes.

He explained that in the 2020-2021 cycle, the students enrolled in upper secondary education mainly used the cell phone (53.3 percent) for their remote sessions, followed by the use of the laptop (30.9 percent), the desktop computer ( 13.1 percent), tablet (2.2 percent) and digital television (0.2 percent).

While those who were enrolled in higher education mainly used the laptop (55.7 percent), the cell phone (31.8 percent), the desktop computer (11.2 percent) and the tablet (1.1 percent).

He pointed out that this situation requires improving and expanding education options that allow all students to have better conditions of equity for the use and access to new educational platformsaccording to their school grade.

The rector of UNAM explained that currently in the highest house of studies, as declared by the students, in the 2020-2021 school year, seven out of 10 first-year high school and undergraduate students came from low-income families ( between zero and four minimum wages).