“There is no clear reason or criteria”: MC demands that the SEP explain the disappearance of full-time schools

Clemente Castañeda, coordinator of the Parliamentary Group for Citizen Movement (MC) in the Senate of the Republic, criticized the disappearance of full-time schools by the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) and pointed out that, so far, no clear criteria have been presented to justify it.

In this regard, this Sunday, March 20, the senator of the orange bench pointed out that this negatively affects 3.6 million girls and boys, who mostly live in conditions of high and very high marginalization.

“It must be said clearly: the SEP owes an explanation to the mothers and fathers of the 3.6 million children affected,” he said, according to him, “there is no reason to take away from the most marginalized students in the country the overtime and food that schools provided them.”

Regarding the family context in which minors develop, Castañeda Hoeflich said that this decision also affects working mothers and fathers, “who could work overtime while their children were well cared for in school.”

It was after the presentation of this context and argumentation that the legislator expressed his party's position in the Senate and demanded, through a point of agreement, that the SEP be broadly and specifically accountable for why the decision was made to eliminate the full-time program in public schools in Mexico.

“The Senate summons the head of the SEP, Delfina Gómez, to appear to explain in detail the reasons, criteria and weightings of evidence for which it was decided to suspend funding for the Full-Time Schools Program”

In addition, it urged the federal public administration, headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to present an educational program that supplements the recently disappeared mechanism, with the intention of avoiding damaging the social fabric of affected children.

“The Federal Executive, through the SEP, is urged to present a detailed plan on comprehensive public policies that replace the guarantee of healthy eating for vulnerable children and adolescents in basic education”

The Secretary of the Legislative Studies Committee of the House of Senators recalled that the objective of the extinct program was to contribute to improving the learning opportunities of students in basic education, as they were provided with an additional hour and a half to three and a half hours, benefiting 3.6 million students in the republic.

“The program benefited more than 25,000 schools, 12.7% of the total public schools in the country; with 70% of the schools benefiting being indigenous schools, and 55% located in rural communities”

In this light, the parliamentary coordinator pointed out that 51% of children who take classes in this way “live in areas of high and very high marginalization”. In addition to the fact that food was granted to 56% of these students, representing 66% the first meal of the day.

“The Programme presented positive externalities, because it directly affected the improvement of the working conditions of mothers and fathers, as well as household income, raising the labor participation of mothers by 5% and working hours by 1.8% per week, with an average increase in their income of 36% ”, read in a statement by MC.

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