Laura Poy Solano
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, January 8, 2026, p. 11
48 years after its creation, the National College of Technical Professional Education (Conalep) faces challenges such as guaranteeing the academic retention of its students. Its dropout rate rises to 14.3 percent, that is, higher than the national average of 11.3 percent, reveals a diagnosis prepared by the organization.
In addition, the number of those who have abandoned their classrooms increased by 1.6 percentage points compared to the 2019-2020 school year, which indicates that nearly 46 thousand young people did not complete their studies in the 2023-2024 cycle.
With more than 324,335 students in the country, of which 7,177 are studying technical baccalaureate in the dual system, Conalep, created in 1978 as a decentralized public agency of the State, recognizes that five out of every 10 students point to failure of modules, absences and the environment on campus as the reason for dropping out.
The diagnosis indicates that the failure rate is 17.2 percent, and it is estimated that between 25 and 40 percent of students fail at least one module per semester, “with higher peaks in areas such as mathematics, physics, English and vocational training.”
Progress and requirements
Although it recognizes that in recent years progress has been made in the terminal efficiency of students (going from 53.1 percent in the period 2016-2019 to 60.3 percent in 2021-2024), it emphasizes that to provide quality education, “it is required that the study plans and programs are appropriate, making it a priority to reconcile the educational offer with the social needs and the requirements of the productive sector.”
In addition, the diversification of the offer in upper secondary education must be promoted in accordance with the requirements of local, state and regional development, expanding it in all modalities.
For this reason, it emphasizes that in 2019 a process of innovation and updating of the educational offer began, for which 11 careers were incorporated into its study plans, including drone piloting, community nursing, oil exploration and production, industrial welding, data science and artificial intelligence, railway transportation and agrotechnology.
With 67 technical careers available, Conalep serves an enrollment in which 54.5 percent of its students are men and 45.5 percent are women, who attend 313 schools and eight Technological Assistance and Services Centers (CAST), located in 239 municipalities, strategically located in the main cities of each state and industrial corridors. It stands out that at least 80 percent of schools serve populations in conditions of social and economic vulnerability.
Although Conalep recognizes that the creation of new schools is being analyzed to increase high school enrollment, it points out that 42.5 percent of its educational offer is concentrated in the states of Mexico, Mexico City, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Guanajuato and Sinaloa.
