After a six-week summer break, around 1.7 million Jalisco primary and secondary school children donned new uniforms and returned to classes as the 2014/15 school year began Monday August 18.
Traffic was noticeably heavier in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, no more so than in parts of Zapopan where work recently began on the city’s third subway (Tren Ligero) line. The Traffic Department (Semov) set up a special “return to classes” operation involving 600 officers who sought to ease the congestion. Nonetheless, Semov reported a 22-percent increase in accidents compared with a regular Monday morning.
Around 7,000 children will be going back to school to find their “temporary” classrooms substituted for “permanent” ones, although the state government admits some 1,400 are still in need of upgrades.
Accompanied by a bevy of reporters and photographers, Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval made a beeline for Secundaria Técnica No. 148, where he wished the children success in the coming year and expressed his government’s commitment to improving education.
Sandoval called on parents to take a more involved role in their children’s education, and mentioned that he is debating whether to make it obligatory for moms and dads to attend the state-mandated “Escuela Para Padres” program.
After highlighting his ground-breaking program for subsidizing the bus travel of more than 200,000 students, Sandoval praised teachers who have embraced President Enrique Peña Nieto’s educational reforms, noting that well trained maestros should have “nothing to fear” from regular evaluations. He said he expects all English teachers to be “100 percent certified” this year and announced that he has earmarked 68 million pesos to invest in “interactive classrooms.”
At a ceremony on Tuesday, Sandoval handed out grants to the tune of 3,800 pesos to 5,000 students of limited resources to ensure they stay in school. The governor said a major goal of his administration is to reduce the number of children who drop out of school for financial or other reasons.
The drop-out rate at Jalisco secondary schools (secundarias) last year was six percent, and one percent at primary schools (primarias).