HugsFromMexico.com

Public schools

Yesterday, the government agreed a 8% salary increase for all the teachers of the public school system.  That’s more or less a real increase (after inflation) of 4%.  Although the wages of teachers are low, there are certainly not working very hard…  Besides their official holidays, they also “take” additional holidays:  for example, today it was “Teachers day”, a good reason according the teachers to take a day off.  But in order to have a nice long weekend, they also took vacations yesterday!   And we could also add all the days teachers go on strike (with pay): last year in Oaxaca they’ve been on strike more or less 6 months!  As you see, productivity is not a concern of the teachers here…

I really wonder WHAT teachers are doing in Mexico.  Mexican students rank far below average in comparison with students of other parts of the world.  Does that mean that Mexican kids are stupid?  Of course not, but if the teachers are worthless…

When will Mexico understand that education is the ONLY WAY out of poverty?  With this increase of wages without asking quality in return, the Mexican government once again delays the country’s progress…

Interesting detail:  The sub-secretary of education Mr. Fernando González Sánchez is the son in law of Mrs. Elba Esther Gordillo.  And that woman is the president of the Union who “negociated” the increase in wages!  Give me a break!

This said, I not telling you that all the teachers are bad…

Saludos,

Peter.  Study Spanish in Mexico at Anders Languages México: http://www.andersmexico.com !

The brain drain in Mexico

Mexico produces some outstanding intellectuals, scientists, artists,…  Problem is that that the mayority of these people leave Mexico attracted by foreign universities and investigation institutes which offer better salries and a lot of resources for investigation.

Some countries, such as Canada, openly promotes Canada as a better place for Mexican “brains”!

A recent example is Mr. Raúl Rojas, Mexican, working at Berlin’s university.  He created the "Spirit of Berlin", the first car which drives in normal traffic without a driver.  Another proof of Mexican creativity which is successful abroad.  By the way, did you know that the color TV was invented by Mexican?

Of course, I do not blame the Mexican brains who are seeking professional success abroad: in Mexico, the only things they receive are low salaries (average USD 20,000 year) and universities with no or limited resources enough for investigation… 

Saludos,

Peter.  Study Spanish in Mexico at Anders Languages México: http://www.andersmexico.com !