Nelson Mandela said that education is the most powerful weapon to change the world. And in today’s Mexico, that phrase takes on new meaning under the vision of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has placed education at the heart of her national project, as the basis for building a fairer, freer country with greater opportunities for all.
During the neoliberal period, thousands of Mexican families experienced inequality from the classrooms: distant schools, deteriorated infrastructure, teachers without support and young people who, due to lack of resources, found themselves having to abandon their studies.
For this reason, the new educational policy not only seeks to open schools, but also to transform the very meaning of educating; because teaching is not about repeating content, but about forming awareness, critical thinking and a sense of community.
The President knows that educating is not the exclusive task of the State, but it is its main responsibility. That is why it has undertaken a comprehensive strategy that puts students at the center, with the aim that no young person who wants to study is left out. In this new stage of the Transformation, educating means guaranteeing the right to knowledge as a tool of freedom and social justice.
The commitment is clear: to bring education closer to where it did not reach before. That is why the supply of public upper secondary schools will be expanded throughout the country. It is about building more high schools close to homes, where young people can continue their education without having to travel kilometers or abandon their dreams due to lack of options.
This effort is not limited to the construction of new campuses. It also includes the conversion of secondary schools into evening high schools, the expansion of existing schools and the strengthening of telebachilleratos.
But educating in the 21st century also means connecting. In a country as diverse and extensive as ours, access to the internet is already a basic need. For this reason, the Federal Electricity Commission’s program to bring free connectivity to more than 3 thousand telesecondaries and telebachilleratos is advancing steadily, benefiting almost 200 thousand students. Because today, educating is also integrating Mexico digitally.
The president’s educational policy does not intend to create dependencies, it seeks to open paths. It is designed to form generations with the capacity to innovate, to think critically and to actively participate in building the country we want.
Educating, in the end, represents governing with conscience. It is sowing a future in every classroom and hope in every girl, boy and young person who dreams of a better Mexico. And in that, this government is not only complying: it is transforming the country from its deepest roots, which is that of knowledge and equality.
X: @RicardoMonrealA