Last February the Mexican government pushed through a reform of article three and article 73 of the Political Constitution which established the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education. The Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), however, considers this a reform purely of labour and administrative aspects, not an educational reform, as it does not deal with the curriculum nro does it seek dialogue on education with the communities.
The reform aims to impose a system of evaluation on education workers, of their entry, promotion and continued employment in the workplace. The evaluation is based on OECD criteria.
The management structure of educational institutions is also reformed, which the union sees as particularly pernicious as it takes the Mexican state out of the process of financing the running of the institutions, leaving the cost of operating school canteens, maintaining infrastructure and providing services such as water and light in the hands of education centres and the parents.
The reform has been roundly condemned by Mexican teachers, with the CNTE taking the lead, notably Section 22 in Oaxaca.
The school year was due to begin in August, but Mexican teachers came out onto the streets en masse to put pressure on the government after it pushed through “supplementary” or “secondary” laws aimed at changing the Education Act, particularly those aspects related to the teachers’ careers.
To date, teachers in the states of Veracruz, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guerrero y Chiapas are still on strike while in Mexico D.F. teachers are taking part in rolling strikes.