Recognizing that the SEP has things to correct, the federal Education Secretary, Leticia Ramírez Amaya, defended that the current administration has implemented actions to strengthen free and quality education, under the premise that it is not a privilege, but a right.
It also reported that the La Escuela es Nuestra program has received 50 injunctions against its implementation, of which 26 have been declared inadmissible. In this sense, he assured that the SEP is going to fully comply with what the judicial authorities determine, but they also continue to work with what the law allows them, hoping that all the injunctions will be dismissed.
When appearing before the Education Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, on the occasion of the gloss of the Fourth Government Report of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the head of the Ministry of Public Education, Leticia Ramírez Amaya, stated that the government program on of education establishes as a priority objective the provision of a humanistic education, with equity, inclusion, interculturality, excellence, and relevance.
In addition to highlighting the increase in Higher Education enrollment and the creation of 145 Benito Juárez García Universities for Well-being, in which 45,000 young people study and 67% of the schools with scholarship students are located in highly and very highly marginalized locations and in indigenous communities.
While in 2021 and 2022, the La Escuela es Nuestra program provided resources for the improvement of infrastructure and equipment of 113,000 of the 197,000 public schools of Basic Education, located in areas of high and very high marginalization, contemplating all the schools of the National Council of Educational Promotion (Conafe) and the Multiple Attention Centers (CAM), which provide special education.
LEN, priority
The Secretary of Public Education pointed out that a central priority is the La Escuela es Nuestra (LEN) program, which considers the participation of the school community, through the Participatory Administration School Committees, to which the resources are delivered directly so that meet the priority needs of their campuses.
Likewise, Ramírez Amaya reported that more than 34 million students of Basic, Upper Middle and Higher Education are in the classroom, accompanied by more than two million teachers.
Regarding the return to face-to-face activities after the Covid-19 pandemic, it generated the flexibility of registration and evaluation dates, as well as the awarding of scholarships and other support, such as uniforms and school supplies.
Education rights
During the appearance, Deputy Esther Mandujano Tinajero (PAN) pointed out that the 2023 Federation Expenditure Budget is not enough to guarantee the right to education.
He also considered that the educational system requires priority attention, since after the pandemic in Mexico, students present an educational gap of two years.
From the PRI, deputy Cynthia Iliana López Castro indicated that it is essential that teachers’ salaries be improved, since they were the ones who went out to teach virtually during the pandemic and worked more than 15 hours a day.
De Morena, deputy María Isabel Alfaro Morales commented that the LEN program contributes to reducing the deficiencies and needs of educational establishments and guarantees the right to education in decent conditions.
