The school year began on Monday, Aug. 22, with dissident teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) continuing the strike that started on May 15. The CNTE was able to disrupt the beginning of classes in several states across Mexico.
In Michoacán, state Education Secretary Silvia Figueroa Zamudio estimated that around 1,200 schools, or around 10 percent of the schools in the state, had not held classes on Monday. He added that more than 90 municipalities reported that classes had resumed with no incidents.
“Ten percent of schools didn’t start classes this Monday, although all schools should be in session,” he said.
Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles said that the interest of children to receive an education should be placed above the interests of politicians or unions, and asked teachers to return to teaching.
The state government in Guerrero said that classes resumed at 98 percent of schools Monday, in spite of warnings by dissident teachers that the start of the school year would be disrupted. In Chilpancingo, the state capital, only three schools were closed as part of protests against the education reform.
Guerrero Education Secretary José Luis González de la Vega Otero said that not one secondary school in the state was closed.
The strike has the most success in the state of Chiapas, where, according to the state Education Secretariat, “not one school was open” on Monday due to actions by dissident teachers. Some parents brought their children to schools, only to bring them home upon realizing that the schools were closed, while others simply stayed home.
In Sinaloa, dissident teachers decided to resume teaching classes for the 2016-2017 school year. Around 630,000 students returned to class on Monday. State Education Secretary Gamer Monárrez González announced that there were few incidents related to the first day of school.