Abstract
Mexico has had a lot of improvement in its education system recently. In line with this noble course, many government policies have been formulated to ensure equity in the provision of education. This will help to ensure the girl child have similar exposures to the educational services as the boys. Since the 1990s, various assessments programs have been carried out to establish the current status and for the government to implement new methods in addressing this issue. Authorities in the education sector and educational experts are of the view that such assessments will have significant improvements to the education system as a whole (Post, para.4). This will be in line with the government’s policy of educating citizens to become professionals who are in high demand for the 21st-century job market. With this objective in mind, all the activities occurring in Mexican schools are assessed beginnings with the institutions offering educational services, the curriculum implemented in schools, the process of awarding accreditation to the learners, and finally on the students themselves. However, despite all these efforts towards the improvement of the educational sector, many disparities still exist concerning women in education. In the world over and especially in developing nations, there exist gender inequalities in access to education. Women are discriminated against due to various reasons which predispose them to such discriminations. The first issue is labor forces in Mexico. The rate of women in the job market is low as compared to that of men (Stromquist 50). These social and family roles have subject women to discrimination in the education sector. As a result, they only get low-paying jobs in the informal sector of the economy. This research paper will focus on the unequal opportunities that exist in women’s education and the associated reasons. These reasons involve; the economic status, the social and family structure in Mexico, the traditional representation of women, and the government’s policies on women’s education.
Introduction
Mexico’s educational development has its beginning in colonial times and marks the political development that has occurred in the country. The developments in the education sector have had a great influence on other developments that have taken place in the country. During the colonial times, Spain which colonized Mexico used education as a tool to express their domination over the Mexicans. The Catholic clergy had the authority over the education system in those times and they created numerous educational institutions. There were major educational advances that necessitated a university to cater for higher education. After authorization from the Spanish monarchy, the University of Mexico began its operations in 1951 after which it later changed its name to Royal University (Barriga 17). After independence, there was a struggle between the political groups to take over the educational system with the Liberal party taking the educational system from catholic control and placing it in the government’s control. The government took control and there was the establishment of the education ministry. After experiencing a lot of struggles, primary and secondary instructions were spread across Mexico, and women’s education was emphasized. This period also saw the development of higher education, scholarships, and a rise in library services. This trend has continued to the 21st century with great improvements being noted in the educational sector.
In a capitalist society like Mexico, one of the main roles of women is being household workers in the day-to-day replacements of the market labor force which greatly undermines their chances of attaining high education. Men are seen to possess the power to determine what women should do and they have great power over them. During the earlier years of industrialization, peasants were subjected to market production. They experienced low wages, long working hours and were faced with many occupational hazards during their work. Due to this, the family experienced threats of breakdown and as a result, the capitalist is involved in preventing the daily replacements of the labor power. To solve this problem, women are removed from production and this has served to preserve the working class’s family status (Johnson, 20). The role of women becomes the reproduction of labor power by performing household duties. Women are kept as labor reserves in the homes and are called upon when the demand arises. The industrial revolutions saw a change in the social status of women. Many women acquired skills and the knowledge necessary for the job market by attending institutions of learning. They were not deterred from education but faced many challenges in accessing higher education. The industrial world thus offered them specialized jobs and they moved from staying at homes into the job market. This changed the common image of the woman to the modern-day woman who is educated and career-oriented.
The modern-day educational system has had major advancements with the government doing any effort to improve the system. Congress has gone further to modify two constitutional articles in an effort to modernize the educational sector. Article 30 provides for every individual to be provided with education by either of the government authorities while Article 31 obligates the parent of children to ensure their children access education up to secondary level. This really helped the girl child who had been greatly challenged to get to this level. The present educational system in Mexico consists of a systematic advancement from preschool to post-graduate education. Not all individuals manage to go through the entire system but many people complete the secondary school level. Of those who complete the system, men account for a larger population than women. From preschool, a child advances to the primary then to secondary, pre-school, higher education, and finally to post graduate education. Many people are faced with increased poverty levels and lack of unemployment which has disposed them to low living standards. To supplement their income, many children engage in manual labor with the permission of their parents. This is a major blow to education because such children do not attend school to the standard required levels. Although the government has tried to reduce this situation, the situation has not changed much from what it was a few years ago (Duryea 20). Many women have however been encouraged to advance in education to get formal employment in the professional labor force. Currently, many women are registering for professional courses. There is a change in the perception among families in Mexico of women becoming professionals in various fields and getting a formal education. As a result, families have advanced and the living standards of individuals in the country have gone up basically from the government’s efforts.
Most of the countries in Latin America were based on a patriarchal paradigm. Mexico was no exception and men regarded themselves as superior to women. This was in terms of intellectual capabilities, psychological perseverance, and physical power. Unfortunately, both men and women in the country shared the myth. Young girls were married off to men by their parents so that they could start families. The woman’s role was to stay at home and perform household chores like caring for the children and washing. The nuclear family was ruled by the father and the society at large was ruled by the elders (Romito para.5). This gave men a dominant status and had many rights as men in matters concerning female labor, on matters of reproduction and sexuality issues. This status was magnified to the larger Mexico and brought order and rule to the society. This organization had deep roots in society and the social system governing it. The social system set clear boundaries between the roles played by women and those meant for men. The women’s options in life were limited within the family and this subjected the young adults to the elders’ rules. The women were content and never contested their status quo in society (Duryea 37). However, their interpretations of these principles in daily life had conflictions with men’s interpretations. Men saw these privileges as innate and inherent to masculinity while women saw them as conditional after men have satisfied some obligations to their women and children. The tension has continued to modern-day society although much has changed. The paradigm discouraged and for that matter still discourages education on part of women in Mexico.
The education system in most Latin American countries is lagging in comparison to other countries in the south. There are certain characteristics associated with this. Research carried out has suggested that out of the children enrolled in school only one in three manages to complete secondary education. A large number of students drop out of school or are compelled to repeat grades before attaining the sixth grade. This has been attributed to poverty levels and the lack of government to create policies for proper education especially for the girl child. Education in most of the Latin world is of low quality. The poor people are not only poorly educated but have also received a poor-quality education. The main problem has stemmed from teaching in public schools. The teachers are lowly paid in public schools and the number of contact hours with students is minimal. Also, educational resources are lacking as compared to the private schools which are a reserve of the rich due to the high school fees paid (Filmer 17). These factors combined generate an education that is of low quality in public schools. Poor people in the country can only afford public education implying that their children cannot perform well. On the other hand, private schools are endowed with all the qualities that are lacking in public schools. This has created two urban classes in Mexico. The first class which is the ruling and the rich in society has a wide technological and scientific knowledge due to attendance to private schools while the second class who are the ruled attended the public schools and have little education and are less prepared to tackle the modern-day challenges. The graduates of private schools had many hours in schools and were taught by well-trained teachers who have increased morale due to better payment. Those in public schools received fewer hours of teaching, poor educational facilities, and were taught by teachers who had low teaching abilities as they usually engaged in part-time jobs to supplement their low payments (Barriga 21). This brings a lot of flaws to the education system in public schools in Mexico. Few policies are encouraging the education of girls thus many are forced to drop out of schools to be married or to engage in immorality and involvement in the drug trade. Such reasons prevent the advancement of education in Mexico.
The contemporary family structure of Mexicans was highly influenced by Spanish values and traditions which did not give women an opportunity to advance. This is expressed by the way Mexicans display their interpersonal relationships, their thoughts, behaviors, and interactions with other society members. Nuclear families in Mexico account for about 74.2 percent of the total population. The remaining families belong to extended families. The families act like clans that provide emotional and material support to one another. Marriage is a common occurrence in Mexico with more than 95% of Mexicans getting married before attainment of age 50. Children inhabiting a nuclear two-parent household have increased chances of attaining education achievements compared to those in non-intact nuclear families due to divorce, abandonment, death of one spouse, or desire for single parenthood. Non-intact nuclear families have some challenges which include the following; one parent may be economically deprived, there is low parental supervision as only one parent is taking care of the child, there are changes in household responsibilities as one parent works hard to complement the other, decreased opportunities regarding labor due to patriarchal nature of the society among others (Filmer 56). The traditional family expected marriage as fulfillment and to have a complete family structure. The men were the head of the families which predisposed them to many privileges in ruling the family as well as the society. Women were expected to be submissive to their husbands and their duties involved caring for the children by being sacrificial mothers. This family structure served to the women’s disadvantage and education opportunities were not encouraged since they would be neglecting their family duties.
Literature review
According to Barriga (20), there is a need for continuous and timely assessment of the educational system in Mexico. This will be within the framework of educational reform programs being implemented by the government. The programs are based on providing high-quality education to both male and female students in Mexico. The authorities concerned with education are of the view that the assessments will see major improvements in the education sector of Mexico as a whole. This will create and educate the professionals who are better equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century. This has resulted in the assessment of everything that goes on in schools across Mexico. Mexican government embarked on training education authorities and therefore putting many programs which at the end of the day are not fruitful to the classroom work. Barriga (27) further concludes that these assessments have not had any force in improving the education quality in Mexico. In addition, an assessment culture has not yet been created in the school system. These assessments have instead come up with formalism and simulation in education in Mexico.
In another study, to establish the school dropout, adolescent labor, and family structures in Mexico, Saucedo analyzed the role played by different family structures in ensuring their children’s education in Mexico. Children who were orphans were found to be in the least group of those receiving formal education. Their percentage is quite small in comparison with the total population but surprisingly, they account for about seven percent of the non-educated individuals in Mexico. This percentage is quite high compared to the percentage of their total population in the country. The researcher notes that further assessment is needed to establish the factors influencing such cases like orphanhood, abandonment, or internal and external migration of these children. This will give an understanding of the reasons contributing to such a high rate of lack of education. The study further found out that the father-only kind of family arrangement was not common in society. However, when they were found chances of children especially girls abandoning school were high in this group. This was attributed to the fact that the absence of the mother increased the probability of the girls being involved in domestic chores as the fathers could not perform the same. It was found out that, the enrolment of the mothers in performing non-domestic work increased the chances of job enrolment and working among the adolescent children. This was attributed to the increased probability to labor networks and jobs that were flexible with their school hours.
Findings
The Mexican educational system is lacking in many factors. Little has been done by the government to ensure equity in access to education by the poor as well as the rich. Many children from poor families are receiving substandard education thus minimizing their chances in the employment world. Children born of government officials attend private schools and the individuals do not show great concern for public education. Students in public schools are having minimal hours in contact with their tutors. They attend these schools because they cannot afford the high school fees paid in private schools. Their teachers are lowly paid and as a result, they are demoralized and are not efficient in teaching. Most of these children never complete their secondary education as many of them drop out in such employment to help their families struggling with the hard economic times. This endows the poor children who are the majority to a weak education system that is not competitive in the 21st century (Romito, para.4). The economic status is therefore the determinant of the political class with the poor being dominated by their rich counterparts. On the other hand, the rich children are taken to private schools where more contact hours are assured and quality education is enhanced. They have no financial struggles and will complete their education without problems. As a result, they acquire better-paying jobs and become the rulers of the less privileged in society.
Women have also been faced with unequal opportunities in the provision of education. Many disparities exist between girls and boys in accessing education in Mexico. The performance of the boy child is higher compared to the performance of the girl child. This is due to the duties assigned to the girl child giving her less time to study and concentrate. The girl child plays a role in household chores thus being underprivileged in comparison with boys. The government policies also fail to address these disparities in the educational system. Their assessment also fails to touch on classroom matters but intends to sanction the role of teachers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the education system in Mexico is flawed. Since colonial times, the system has undergone developments but there is still much to be done. It fails to address disparities in the economic status, the traditional representation of women, and gender in the schools. Women have been charged with the responsibility of staying in the house to take care of the children and perform other household chores. Men on the other hand enjoy excessive power over women and even exploit them. Private schools have qualified teachers who are more qualified and work long hours to ensure success on part of the students. The rich such as the government officials take their children to such schools because they can afford the high charges. Contrary, the poor people cannot afford private schools and they, therefore, take their children to public schools where teachers are paid lowly and therefore not motivated, facilities are of low quality, teachers work few hours, and others. A proper and efficient assessment is desired in Mexico that will address the above matters. The government should also formulate policies to enhance the education system to ensure equity in the provision of educational services to the poor as well as the rich and the boys and girls. This will ensure a literate society that produces professionals capable of tackling modern-day challenges.
Works cited
Barriga, Angel. Assessment in Mexican Education. An Excess of Programmes and Absence of the Pedagogical Dimension. Educational Services Journal 5.9 (2009):1646-6500.
Duryea, Suzanne. The educational gender gap in Latin American and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2007.
Filmer, Deon. The Structure of Social Disparities in Education: Gender and Wealth Policy Research on Gender Development. Working Paper Series, No. 5. Washington, DC: Washington DC World Bank, 1999.
Johnson, Allan. The Forest and The Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice and Promise. Temple University Press, 2008.
Post, Region. D, Poverty, Sibship, and Gender Inequality in Mexican Education: Will Targeted Welfare Policy Make a Difference for Girls? Sage Publications, 3, 2001. Web.
Romito, Patrizia. Women inside and outside Academia: a struggle to access knowledge, legitimacy, and influence. Sage Publications: Social Science Publication, 2005. Web.
Saucedo, Silvia. School Drop out, Adolescent Labour and Family Structures in Mexico. Web.
Stromquist, Nelly. Women and education in Latin America: knowledge, power, and Change. Boulder: Lynne Reiner Publishers, 1992.