PRIMARY EDUCATION IN MEXICO IN THE FIRST 25 YEARS OF THE 21st CENTURY

 On July 7, 2025, I celebrated 17 years since graduating from the Public Normal School “Adolfo López Mateos”, Regional Center of Teacher Education (CREN) in Iguala de la Independencia. At exactly 11:40 a.m., after presenting the defense of my thesis “Logical-Mathematical Reasoning in a 3rd Grade Primary Education Group”, I took the professional oath:

"Do you swear to exercise with responsibility, ethics, and vocation the role of Primary Education Teacher, always safeguarding the best interests of Mexican children, promoting quality, equitable, and inclusive education, with social commitment and respect for diversity?"

To which I answered, “Yes, I swear!”

"If you fulfill this, may the Nation, society, public education, and childhood recognize you; and if not, may they demand it of you. Congratulations!"

Thus began a path of experience under the 1997 curriculum plan, with which I was trained to become a primary school teacher, rooted in the 1993 reform of primary education. My career has been marked by cycles of sexennial reforms, truncated transformations, training gaps, and lack of relevance. In 2009, a new reform of primary education came into force, only to be modified and complemented in 2011 with the Comprehensive Reform of Basic Education (RIEB). At that time, there were training programs, diplomas, refresher workshops, and active support from teacher centers and institutions such as ILCE, UNAM, and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

However, in 2013, Peña Nieto’s “Educational Reform” arrived (in truth, more labor and political than educational). To erase that stigma, a “New Educational Model” was implemented in 2015. This meant that generations graduating from teacher colleges since 2008 studied under a plan that no longer existed, were trained for a reform that was later abolished, and were inserted into a New Educational Model without proper training—such as for Clubs and emotional education. Since 2013, non-Normal graduates (pedagogues, educational psychologists, education majors) have been allowed into teaching service, even though in their entire academic career they had never systematically and supervisedly taught a primary classroom.

This generated a national decline in the teaching-learning process. While the contribution of new professionals is not dismissed, there has been no regulatory framework for practice before becoming head teachers, nor systematic in-service training in the new models. Despite this, many young graduates still carry the spirit of the oath in their hearts—"to exercise with responsibility, ethics, and vocation, safeguarding the best interests of Mexican children." Many pursue postgraduate studies, pay for refresher courses, sacrifice family and personal commitments to give more than “enough.” However, most teachers cannot afford such sacrifices and depend on state-provided training.

In 2018, the 2013 and 2015 reforms were discredited, and in 2019 yet another reform was introduced, followed by the 2022 curriculum. To date, there has been no real change in teacher professionalization policies. Teachers graduating since 2008 have lacked a stable, systematic, rigorous pedagogical training system to develop continuous improvement skills and strengthen teaching performance. Those who have improved have generally done so through private postgraduate and specialization programs.

What can be highlighted in these 17 years, from 2008 to today?

• The implementation of Extended School Days and Full-Time Schools.

• The inclusion of English as a subject (now part of the Language field).

• Brief but relevant emphasis on emotional and nutritional education (the “healthy plate” and “drink jar” models, public policies on school food, and efforts against unhealthy diets in school cooperatives).

• Better integration of inclusive education (UDEEI replacing USAER), with referrals to health centers and hospitals in Mexico City (such as Juan N. Navarro Psychiatric Hospital).

• Scholarships, which support students—although their educational use depends largely on families.

• School meals: in Mexico City, cold breakfasts (milk, cookies, cereal) and hot meals in school kitchens, nutritionally rich and balanced—an overall generous and valuable program, though in need of stronger organizational controls.

In summary, the first 25 years of the 21st century, especially since the second decade, have been marked by pedagogical instability. While coverage in primary education is nearly universal, quality and academic performance are mediocre at best. The standardized evaluation system (ENLACE, then PLANEA) was abandoned, leaving only MEJOREDU’s diagnostic test—irrelevant for teachers. Evaluation since 2013 has been demonized as negative, divisive, and aspirational, instead of merit-based.

School dropout has decreased, but overall enrollment has also dropped, as families now have fewer children (1–3), reducing class sizes from 40 students to 30 or fewer. However, smaller groups have not translated into better discipline or achievement. Inequality in infrastructure between rural, indigenous, and urban schools persists—bathrooms, lighting, patios, windows, etc.—still reflecting poverty in remote areas.

Attempts to close the digital divide also failed: Enciclomedia (2001–2006) collapsed because most teachers could not use computers; the 2015 tablets for 5th and 6th graders never fully worked; and during the COVID-19 school closures (2020–2022), distance learning was unequal—urban centers used mobile internet, laptops, and platforms like Meet, Zoom, and Classroom, while most rural areas depended on TV (Aprende en Casa), radio, and printed booklets.

Another point of tension has been parental and community participation. While designed to strengthen education (through Social Participation Councils since 2009 and the Buzón Escolar program in Mexico City in 2015), in practice it weakened teacher authority, often turning families into adversaries rather than allies, exposing teachers to harassment and false accusations.

The 2022 curriculum introduced interdisciplinary “formative fields” and project-based learning, emphasizing social justice, equity, critical thinking, gender perspectives, human rights, and diversity. Yet, mathematical learning suffered significant setbacks: the treatment, progression, and systematization of logical-mathematical reasoning has been almost irresponsibly neglected within the Nueva Escuela Mexicana.

In short, primary education in Mexico during the first quarter of the 21st century has been shaky, unstable, problematic, conflictive, poorly assertive, and extremely stressful for teachers. Student performance remains weak. Still, the dream and the utopia must continue:

"If you fulfill this, may the Nation, society, public education, and childhood recognize you; and if not, may they demand it of you."

Let us go forward, fellow teachers.

Dr. Alan Eliseo Salmerón Nieves