Education >> Mexicans
Mexican Education From There to Here
The Mexican Educational System is under the control of the Secretaria de Educacion Publica (SEP). Mexican schools start from Nursery school and progress up into Post Graduate School. Most schools at the Primary and Lower Secondary School level have a core curriculum of subjects.
In primary school the core curriculum is composed of Spanish, mathematics, history, geography, civic education, health and environmental education. In secondary school students are taught their mother tongue,world history and natural sciences. At the upper-secondary level, English is taught as a second language.
Preschool is not compulsory, but the government strongly suggests that each child finishes at least one year. Primary school is compulsory and generally starts at age 6. Most children finish at age 11 but can continue to be enrolled until age 14. Lower Secondary school is also compulsory and is completed in 3 years and children can continue to be enrolled until the age of 16.
Along with general education, the SEP devised different ways of getting children and adults to get an education. This includes adult education for those over the age of 15 and community education for those in isolated areas.
Also, bilingual and bicultural education so people in indigenous areas can learn to speak their own languages and Spanish (the official language of Mexico).
In 1968, the Mexican government started a telesecundaria program for those who graduated elementary school and were starting middle school. This was mainly to serve people in rural areas who were suffering from a lack of secondary schools in their area. The television programs are also broadcast throughout Central and South America, Canada and the United States via satellite.
Upper-Secondary Education has several specialized programs. The general program is called the bachillerato and is a college preparatory program. The Technical Professional Education program trains students in different areas for positions in the workplace. The technological bachillerato prepares students for careers as professional technicians or for them to continue into higher educations.
Higher Education is composed of Universities, Technical Institutes, Teacher-training colleges and Technological Universities. Universities consists of four-year colleges and university programs called the licenciatura. Technical institutes offers a three-year program in engineering and management fields. Teacher-training colleges, offers bachelor degrees in the areas of pre-school, primary school, secondary, and special and physical education. Technological universities offers two-year programs to prepare students to be Higher University Technicians.
Licenciatura are undergraduate courses which normally require four years of study. Some licenciatura programs take longer and take up to five or six years. The licenciatura normally requires the successful completion of all coursework, as well as a thesis and a period of social service. Some alternatives for doing a thesis are taking a specialization course or passing for the national (Ceneval) exam and some universities exempt students from a thesis when they have excellent grades. The licenciatura is known as the equivalent of a bachelors degree.
Maestria programs usually take two years of study and can be compared with a masters degree. A licenciatura is required to access a maestría program. The maestría program is far more research-oriented than the licenciatura. The degree can be obtained by completion of coursework and by doing a thesis.
A doctorate takes an average of three years. The doctorate is typically a program of specialized research followed by a period of original research and the preparation and oral defense of a dissertation. A maestria or licenciatura degree is required to access the doctorate program.
Many immigrants have taken advantage of the city’s free education and willingness to overlook the immigrant status of the parents. New York has many programs for both students in and out of school to learn English as a Second Language. For students enrolled in the New York City Public School system, there are two bilingual programs: Transitional Bilingual Education Program and the Dual Language Program.
Adult ESL programs are heavily advertised along transportation routes in and out of Manhattan. Most of these programs offer courses ranging from basic English to advanced conversational English. Over 50% of these people are between the ages of 25 and 44 and 43% (the majority) identify themselves as Latino. 47% are already employed and 54% are enrolled for English language purposes instead of general education.
