Jalisco Governor Jorge Aristotoles Sandoval looked on proudly as pre-school, primary and secondary school students were given free supplies on Monday, thus keeping a promise he made during his election campaign last year.
The first day of classes is traditionally a day for hollow political platitudes, when leaders wax lyrical about the “importance of youth” and “our commitment to education.”
Sandoval kept up the tradition, albeit with a modicum of substance. “Investing in education is the best investment for Mexico,” he said at ceremony in Tlajomulco, after visiting schools in each of the five Guadalajara metro area municipalities. “So that our youngsters don’t end up in organized crime or as drug addicts.”
According to state authorities, 1,535,622 students in 11,243 Jalisco public schools will receive backpacks filled with supplies this year, a commitment that will be honored annually for the rest of Sandoval’s six-year term.
In the program, coined “Mochilas con los Útiles,” materials will be delivered to schools over a period of 15 days, at an average of 100,000 packets a day.
“No school director or teacher can now prevent a student from starting classes for not having the right materials,” said Jalisco Social Development Secretary Salvador Ruiz on Monday.
With this program and by subsidizing the transportation costs of thousands of public school students – another program implemented in this school cycle – Sandoval hopes to reduce school drop-out levels. Jalisco has the fourth highest drop-out ranking in the country.
Other important educational issues still need addressing. Thousands of students continue to receive their education in makeshift classes, often in the shells of old buses and without proper desks or essential equipment. Although the government has earmarked 190 million pesos to substitute some 300 mobile classrooms this year, education authorities admit that 1,734 classrooms in the state are considered “provisional” and need upgrading urgently.
The outlook for Mexico’s teachers is another issue that will dominate the headlines and potentially threaten the wellbeing of students over the coming school year.
This Friday, many teachers across Jalisco will stage a 12-hour strike in protest at the fast-track reforms approved earlier this year that introduced a standardized process for the hiring, evaluating, promoting and retaining of teachers.
Although the National Teachers Union has been weakened following the jailing of its corrupt leader Ester Elba Gordillo in March, opposition to the reforms is widespread among members and disruptions to classes may be the norm rather then the exception over the coming months.