Investment in education

An accumulation of resources that represent 11% of the entire Expenditure Budget of the Federation for 2023 are signified, although without words, in a reflection of the government’s priorities regarding one of the items -if not rather than THE ruble – to ensure the full advancement of a society. Just over 946,000 million that will be used to support the operation, improvement and innovation of the entire Mexican educational system, which in turn represents 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

In this sense, the controversy deepens when the allocated resource is considered insufficient, in a scenario where the country, and the world in general, has lagged behind in education due to the dark period of the covid pandemic. And it is true, if we reflect with justice taking as a premise the serious setbacks that the country experiences in all the components that make up a state, surely we would not consider all the petitions that derive in an environment of economic astringency satisfied. Therefore, a budget increase for education in Mexico of 6.2%, if contrasted with the educational gap, is laughable. But this is where the breakdown of allocated spending is interesting, where the political doctrine that supports the current government is probably reflected in vivid tones.

It is true that the first pillar, and perhaps the most important education, is basic education. There, the first knowledge skills are acquired, the ability to read and write is acquired and the foundations that support the entire educational tract of a Mexican are laid. Thus, the programmatic increase in this box is 19% compared to the previous year. Little more than 14,000 million pesos will have to show effectiveness in its application to reduce a delay that international organizations place up to a decade. On the other hand, higher secondary education alike obtains a sustained advance of the order of 11 percent.

But there are three issues to highlight in this analysis; the part of bureaucratic operation, or functional organic of the education, translated to the expense of the secretariat of the branch, represents an expense of 17 thousand 500 million in round numbers. In addition to this, the public university will receive for its great representatives 17,000 million for the UNAM and 5,000 million for the Polytechnic Institute, 4,000 million for the UAM.

Thus, it is not only how much is allocated to a fundamental activity in the state, but also how these resources are applied to give them total effectiveness. Mexico, despite the poor results in the PISA test, is the country that invests the most in education with respect to its own budget. However, the lack of effectiveness in educational progress reflects a deep-seated situation, in an issue that should be an absolute priority.

Twitter: @gdeloya