Students call for education funding in 2022 budget in Mexico

The National Federation of Revolutionary Students "Rafael Ramírez" (FNERRR) called for deputies to approve greater resources for education in 2023.

During the next few days, the Chamber of Deputies will approve the 2023 Expenditure Budget, whose deadline is November 15.

According to the Package, it does not prioritize education in the country, as it leaves out resources for educational infrastructure, furniture, computer equipment, among others, and contemplates greater resources for specific programs, such as "The School Is Ours", in a clear intention to use them in a "clientelistic" manner, said Adán Márquez Vicente, organizing secretary of the Federation of Revolutionary Students Rafael Ramírez (FNERRR).

In this context, the student group will hold its sixth Congress, to be held in the city of Puebla on November 5, and in which, as a main point, will be the defense of education and in favor of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador allocating greater resources for education.

Civil associations have evidenced that the federal government's priority is the unclear management of the programs, especially "La Escuela es Nuestra", to which an 87.7 percent increase in resources is foreseen, although, according to research, it is one of the most opaque. "Benito Juarez Universities", with an increase of 39.6 percent and the program "Benito Juarez Scholarships" with 7.4 percent.

On the other hand, the abandonment of education is evident; through different media, parents, teachers and students have shown schools without educational infrastructure.

Márquez Vicente affirmed that the majority of Mexicans suffer poverty every day, a consequence of a greater concentration of wealth in a few hands, an effect of the capitalist model that has been applied in Mexico for the last 50 years.

"This situation, inevitably, has had its reflection and consequences in the national public education system, in which the idea that the State should not continue to protect the most vulnerable sectors, nor provide free and cheap services that make possible a true equality of opportunities, has been tried to be established. The current government has even omitted dialogue with civil organizations that demand better conditions. This situation of neglect has caused a serious crisis in public education at all levels, the most alarming result of which is the lack of generation of high quality scientific professionals, since Mexico is one of the countries with the lowest reading comprehension scores and a high level of school dropouts," he said.

The student leader announced that on November 5, the sixth National Congress will be held, where several delegations from all the states of the country will democratically vote for a new leadership that will lead the student struggle.

"The organized students, conscious of the real priorities that the country needs, are undertaking a struggle for an educational budget that will mitigate the current crisis of national education, with denunciations in networks, graffiti and demonstrations in the main avenues. And in the framework of the sixth National Congress of the FNERRR, the guidelines that the federation and the youth should have as a priority during the rest of the six-year term will be set out," concluded Márquez Vicente.