Jalisco education authorities flip-flopped this week and decided to distribute the federal government’s free textbooks to Jalisco’s 1.6 million primary and secondary school students after legal and academic experts at the University of Guadalajara deemed them lawful and ethical, despite some error-strewn content.
Several states governed by opposition parties, including Jalisco, had chosen to suspend distribution of the textbooks after a Mexico City judge ordered the federal government to stop printing the books, granting an injunction (amparo) filed by the National Union of Families and Parents. The judge said the textbooks lacked “scientific, technical and pedagogical bases, as well as academic professionalism.” The Ministry of Education (SEP) ignored the ruling, arguing that it was never properly notified of the decision.
The UdeG team of 44 specialists voted 42 to 2 in favor of distributing the textbooks to students for the current academic year, which began August 28. Jalisco Education Secretary Juan Carlos Flores Miramontes said it was better for students to start classes with the books despite the errors, rather than for them to study without them.
The university will compile a detailed breakdown of all the mistakes in the books that will be forwarded to federal authorities, Flores Miramontes said. He added that deficiencies noted in subjects such as science, mathematics and foreign languages will be remedied by urging teachers to use existing additional materials elaborated by state education authorities.
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