Crisis in preschool in Baja California Sur and institutional abandonment warned.
La Paz, Baja California Sur.— Members of the Preschool Education Movement in Baja California Sur offered a press conference to warn about what they described as a critical situation of the preschool level in the state, with threats of closure of kindergartens, low enrollment, lack of institutional dissemination, lack of infrastructure and official statements from the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) that, they pointed out, misinform society about the obligatory nature of this level of education.
The meeting with the media was attended by teacher María Estrella Ulaje Fernández, teacher Isabel Peña and the director of the Marcelo Rubio Ruiz kindergarten, Irma Méndez, who presented legal grounds, operational data and direct testimonies from the schools.
Preschool is mandatory, teachers remind us
María Estrella Ulaje stressed that preschool education is compulsory in Mexico and is part of basic education, along with primary and secondary education, in accordance with Article 3 of the Constitution.
He recalled that this obligation was fully established after the constitutional reform published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on November 12, 2002, which modified articles 3 and 31 to incorporate the three grades of preschool as mandatory.
They state that, from 2023 to date, at least nine kindergartens in the city of La Paz have faced pressure processes, warnings of closure or mergers of groups due to low enrollment. / Photo: Alan Flores / El Sudcaliforniano
“There is no legal basis to affirm that the preschool level is optional or dispensable,” he said.
They warned that any discourse in this regard violates the superior right of girls and boys to a comprehensive education from early childhood.
The teachers rejected the recent statements of Alicia Meza Osuna, head of SEP, in which it is suggested that it is enough to attend a single grade of preschool to enter primary school, a position that, they said, contradicts the national legal framework and international treaties signed by Mexico.
Closures and pressure on schools
During the press conference, it was reported that, from 2023 to date, at least nine kindergartens in the city of La Paz have faced pressure processes, warnings of closure or mergers of groups due to low enrollment.
The teachers agreed that the low enrollment cannot be attributed only to family factors, but to an absence of effective public policies to promote the preschool level. / Photo: Alan Flores / El Sudcaliforniano
Among them mentioned the preschoolers Eva Sámano, Juan Jacobo Rousseau, Juan María Salvaterra, Francisco Luis Peláez, Juan Enrique Pestalozzi, Rosaura Zapata, María Luisa, Martina Viuda de Díaz and Marcelo Rubio Ruiz.
The participants pointed out that the pressure is exerted on a daily basis through calls and daily attendance reports, particularly in periods close to pre-registration, which generates uncertainty among directors, teachers and families.
Irma Méndez, director of the Marcelo Rubio Ruiz kindergarten, explained that the closure of groups directly impacts children, who must be relocated to other schools, often farther away, as well as teaching and support staff, who lose job stability. He explained that a group has already been closed on his campus after the retirement of a teacher, which reduced the staff and put other support services at risk.
Lack of dissemination, infrastructure and materials
The teachers agreed that the low enrollment cannot be attributed only to family factors, such as work schedules or lack of resources, but to an absence of effective public policies to promote the preschool level.
They pointed out that institutional dissemination is limited to general messages of pre-registration on official platforms, without territorial campaigns in neighborhoods or communities, which has forced educators to carry out, on their own and outside their working hours, flyering, loudspeaker and promotion activities.
They also denounced delays in infrastructure and maintenance. Irma Méndez explained that there are requests for luminaires and repairs that are several years old without being addressed, as well as deficiencies in lighting and basic safety conditions in classrooms.
In terms of materials, they indicated that official support is reduced to an annual voucher of approximately 200 pesos per student, an amount that they considered insufficient, so that a large part of the educational, cleaning and maintenance supplies are covered by mothers and fathers through cooperation and community activities.
Labor impact and call to families
Isabel Peña warned that the closure of kindergartens particularly affects workers at the preschool level, a sector made up mostly of women and denounced that the labor rights of teachers with 15 or 20 years of service have been violated, as they are relocated without considering their stability and community roots.
Finally, the members of the movement called on state and federal education authorities to publicly rectify any statement that minimizes the obligatory nature of preschool, stop school closures and strengthen this level as a pillar of basic education.
They also called on mothers and fathers to participate in the pre-registration process, which begins on February 3, and register girls and boys from 2 years and 8 months of age. Preschool education is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right,” they concluded.
Source: El Sudcaliforniano
