Introduction
The following article contains clear and concise information on a topic that has caused much controversy in recent days, the so-called educational reform, which not many of us understand and few know what its content really is.
In this article I include some interviews and opinions of teachers who experience the work stoppage, which made it clear what their disagreement was and the specific points with which they do not agree, this is very useful for those of us who do not understand why so much annoyance.
Background
Educational reform, a topic that we have all heard about or at least we have been victims of the consequences of it, but in reality, do you know what educational reform is? Let's go by parts, the educational reform was presented on December 11, 2012 by the current president of the republic, Enrique Peña Nieto, a reform that was expected for several years and with which a restructuring of the educational system in Mexico would be carried out.. It was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on December 20, 2012 and by the Senate of the Republic on December 21 of the same year. In February 2013, the reform was declared constitutional by the Federal Legislative Power, promulgated by the Executive on February 25, 2013 and published the following day in the Official Gazette of the Federation.
On December 1, 2012, when addressing his first message to the nation as President of the Republic, Enrique Peña Nieto announced the first twelve presidential decisions, among which was the sending of an educational reform to the Congress of the Union for its analysis and discussion.1
On December 2, 2012, the President of the Republic, Enrique Peña Nieto; Gustavo Madero Muñoz, president of the National Action Party; Cristina Díaz Salazar, interim president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party; and Jesús Zambrano Grijalva, president of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, signed the Pact for Mexico. One of the five major agreements is the creation of a society of rights and freedoms, which in turn contains an agreement for quality education with equity that would be promoted through the presentation of a legal reform in education with three objectives:
- Increase the quality of basic education, reflecting this in the results of international evaluations such as PISA. Increase enrollment and the quality of upper secondary and higher education Recover the leadership of the Mexican State in the national educational system.
Entering into the matter, this reform seeks improvement and maximum performance and achievement of the students, in such a way that the State is the one who will guarantee the educational resources and methods, the infrastructure and school organization, the possibility that the parents of family express their opinion on educational plans and programs. In addition, various amendments are established to articles 3 and 73 of the Constitution and a new section is added to Article 3 of the Constitution.
This law raised three secondary laws, which expose the need to evaluate teachers with autonomous bodies and the creation of a database at the national level, and to establish a professional teaching system; A new section is added to article 3 of the Constitution, it basically consists of three secondary laws:
General Education Law (The attendance list):
- Establishes the Educational Information and Management System in charge of conducting a census of schools, teachers and students, supported by INEGI. It includes provisions such as prohibiting the collection of fees in basic or upper secondary education. It empowers the State to inspect private schools
Law for the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education (The prefect):
- It will have the power to evaluate the quality, performance and results of the national educational system in basic and upper secondary education. It will have attributions to evaluate the performance and results of the National Educational System, the director (of INEE) will be appointed by the president. Teaching career, to end the discretionary allocation of places, it will be up to the educational authorities to administer the allocation of these. In charge of making the guidelines to which the educational authorities will be subject to evaluate the entrance to the teaching service, the promotion, and the evaluation of the teaching performance and those who exercise management and supervision functions.
Professional Teaching Service Law (Expulsion):
- Professors who already have the final appointment will be evaluated, they have three attempts to pass, if they do not pass, they will be sent to another area or will be asked to retire. To compete for a teaching position, those who are elected will have an induction period and will be evaluated every year to determine whether or not they meet the required standards, otherwise, "the effects of their appointment will be terminated." Includes sanctions for dismissing teachers who miss three consecutive days without justification, or three times a month., it will be mandatory for all teachers; not pactable. (75% of teachers failed in the last national evaluation) The Teacher Evaluation does not consist of a knowledge “test” at the end of each school year, but of different variables:attendance at work, merits, performance, psychological and clinical examinations.
The CNTE and SNTE
The National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), emerged in December 1979 in Chiapas as part of a movement against corruption and abuse by the leaders of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE). The CNTE extended its influence to various states in the country, such as Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacán, the Federal District and the State of Mexico.
In 1989 the CNTE led a national strike by teachers that led to the dismissal of the SNTE general secretary, Carlos Jonguitud, (replaced by the teacher, Elba Esther Gordillo).In 1996, the Coordinator managed to sideline the SNTE and obtain direct dialogue with the authorities in salary negotiations, assignment of places, appointment of officials and even in school programs in some states such as Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacán.
Development
Now that we know what this reform consists of, the question is the following, why if this reform is posed as a change that will revolutionize education and the future of students in the country, teachers and parents disagree ? Here is the answer, by interviewing people close to you and who are part of the union, you can investigate the following, Ana Gabriela Flores Gonzáles, a preschool teacher exposes the following: “the supposed educational reform being realistic, it is rather a labor reform, in which if It is carefully reviewed, you could realize that no type of change has been made to the educational plans and programs, in the same way with the modification of articles 3 and 73 of the constitution, education will be privatized,in such a way that the parents together with us teachers will have to manage support to maintain the schools to what they have called educational self-management, which forces parents to support school expenses and calls " voluntary quotas "become mandatory".
After listening not only to this teacher but to several others, where is the change in education this reform, the only thing it seeks is to condition the teachers, and here well the question of why disguise the labor reform with the educational one? being sincere, what needs to be reformed are the deputies and senators among other public servants, who have millionaire salaries and little prepared, since in the constitution there is no section that says that a person must be studied to obtain a position of that magnitude.
In the same way, school cooperatives are conditioned to sell relatively healthy food, I witness that this does not work, the children bring junk from home and the parents themselves are the ones who at breakfast time bring their so-called desserts. As for full-time schools, the idea is good but it is too disorganized, at least from my perspective I had the opportunity to work in a school cafeteria of a full-time school and the biggest problem is that the DIF who supplies the Pantries do not arrive with supplies on the days they should.
What the country needs is a really smart person who takes the reins and decides to make a change, but a change that benefits everyone, not just him and his family, we need a president, not a clown.
conclusion
We do not need more than teachers with a vocation, teachers who are prepared and who love what they do, it is not necessary to reform the education system, if not the programs of how it is taught, having a better education implies a better culture, but not a better one. In the country, education and training begins from home and that is where the big problem is, that we live in a conformist society, in which if someone steals from another, it is not our problem, in which the children must work to support drunk fathers and beaten mothers and the educational reform that helps these children?… remember that to achieve a change we must start with ourselves, life is like a chain in which if you do something right, someone else imitates it and one by one we can make a big change. Mexico needs to wake up and raise its voice,put aside the reforms imposed on us by our so-called president, who only does it benefit him and the rich. We ask deputies and senators for evaluations, we ask for salary cuts to public servants, that the positions are not inherited or given because you are my compadre, we ask honest and hard-working people. Let's ask for a better Mexico!
