Headline December 01, 2018/ '' 'EDUCATION! IN MEXICO?' ''

'' 'EDUCATION! IN MEXICO?' ''

SIR : EVERYONE IN PAKISTAN have every right to get higher education.

In our Gilgit-Baltistan [GB] we have lack of universities which is the biggest challenge.

Students with poor background cannot get higher education because they cannot afford expenses of universities and always cannot afford to get space college/university hostels.

There is just only one university in Gilgit-Baltistan that is *Karakorum International University* with lack of basic facilities.

The World Students Society assures Student Nazia Alam of every support in the days ahead.

CHINA : And in China - one school is offering a fix for a country that worries its sons are too coddled.

MEXICO : IN 2014 a census of teachers found that 300,000 recipients - whose estimated salaries made up 10% of the federal education budget, had left, died or never existed.

Mexico may venerate its teachers, but that seems not to have translated into learning.

IN 1918 MEXICO became one of the first countries in the world to declare an annual Teachers' Day holiday. The 100th anniversary, on May 15th last-

Was a politicised affair, Enrique Pena Nieto, the lame-duck president gave a speech at an official celebration. Meanwhile, members of the National Co-ordinator of Education Workers [CNTE], a strident teachers union, took to the streets.

They were protesting against the  education reform Mr. Pena signed in 2013 - whose affects are now being felt by the students he hoped to aid and by the unions he tried to weaken.

At the time, May, June this year,  -campaigning for Mexico's presidential election, that was due in July last, had concentrated on crime and corruption.

But the biggest issue on the ballot was arguable the fate of the structural reforms that Mr. Pena and his legislative allies passed 11 policy areas.

The president aides went on to tout  his-education law as the most, most popular of them all.

Mexico may venerate its teachers, but that seems not to have translated into learning. By global standards the country's education system is an underperformer.

Its 15-year-olds' scores on the PISA test, which measures proficiency in science, reading and maths, lag far behind those of European countries like Bulgaria and Romania, which spend similar amounts per students on education.

Even within Latin America, its score is only slightly better those of Colombia, whose per-student budget is 45% lower.

Learning The Hard Way : Given that the national teachers union's [SNTE] historical stranglehold on Mexican schools, it is surprising that the country does not fare even worse.

Before 2013 the union held a majority of seats on ''hiring commissions'', enabling it to control who entered the profession.

Teachers faced no performance reviews and could not be fired. they could transfer their positions to anyone they chose : classified ads in newspapers often offered teaching jobs for sale.

The government did not even have data on how many instructors it paid.

In 2014 a census of teachers found that 300,000 recipients - whose estimated salaries made up 10%  of the federal education budget - had left, died or never existed.

For decades the SNTE used its clout to preserve this system. Its 1.5 million members tended to vote in unison, and persuaded parents to do the same.

One study found that political  candidates the SNTE backed received a 2% boost in polling stations that were schools. The SNTE's support for Mr. Lopez Obrador's victorious rival in the presidential race of 2006 may have been decisive.

Mr. Pena, however, has turned the tables.

In 2013, prosecutors arrested Elba Esther Gordillo, the head of the SNTE, on embezzlement charges. Although she denies wrongdoing and is awaiting trial under house arrest, the show of force may have encouraged the SNTE to back his reform.

The law instructed the federal government to pay teachers directly, which stopped unions from handling their pay cheques.

It also required candidates for jobs and promotions to undergo a written test about teaching methods and academic subject matter.

Some states, like Puebla, now hold public events to announce which candidates scored the best. It has already promoted 2,000 people to the role of principal on this basis. Mr. Pena wants to launch a similar platform nationwide.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of Mexico and then the world. See Ya all prepare and register on : wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society for every subject in the world & Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Object - Lesson '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless