Students Become Victims in Teachers' Conflict with Mexican Government Xinhua
go to original June 30, 2016

The Stream - Deadly lessons: Mexico's battle over education (Al Jazeera English)

Update: Striking Mexican Teachers Ease Blockade to Allow Fuel Shipments (EFE)

Mexico's decades-long conflict between dissident teachers and the government has left generations of students with incomplete educations, according to non-governmental organization Mexicanos Primero (Mexicans First).

Nowhere is that truer than in the southern state of Oaxaca, bastion of the dissident teachers, who has recently locked in conflicts with the government over a series of education reforms enacted in 2013.

The director of the NGO, David Calderon, said that by the time local students graduate from primary school, they have missed an entire academic year as teachers had taken part in protest marches.

"In six years, a child in Oaxaca misses at least 200 days" of classroom instruction, which is equivalent to a school year in Mexico, Calderon told Xinhua in an interview this week.

The NGO, which backs the government reforms, said that "for more than 22 years, children in (Oaxaca) state public schools have not been able to enjoy a complete academic year."

While the conflict between dissident teachers and the government has a long history, the latest flare-up in tension has largely centered in the reforms, which teachers say threaten their jobs by instating periodic evaluations.

Read the rest at Shanghai Daily

Related: Teachers’ Protest in Oaxaca Has Deep Roots (The Progressive)

Related: Facing Violent Repression, Mexican Teacher Revolt Spreads (Socialist Alternative)

Related: Supplies Run Thin in Southern Mexico Amid Teacher Protests (The Salt Lake Tribune)

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