Public Education Secretary Aurelio Nuño Mayer said on Monday that dialogue between the Public Education Secretariat (SEP) and the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) will not resume until all teachers return to class. He added if dialogue does resume, its goal will be to resolve administrative issues, not to discuss modification or repeal of the education reforms.
After visiting the March 21 Elementary School on Monday morning, Nuño Mayer said that the SEP would like to commence dialogue on Sept. 7. However, he warned that this would not happen while teachers continued to reject the academic calendar previously agreed upon.
Nuño Mayer added that in Oaxaca, classes are taking place in over 70 percent of all schools. Once dialogue begins, conversations will first take place with local administrators and officials, and then teachers will be invited to speak about the education model in order to start dialogue about the education reform.
He noted that this has already happened in Michoacán, where teachers have returned to class, and conversations have begun between the teachers and local education authorities in order to explore administrative issues like delayed pay and other problems.
However, before Nuño Mayer made the warnings, the CNTE’s Section 22, which represents teachers in Oaxaca, had already announced that on Sept. 7 they will have 70 percent of teachers in classes and open the doors to all schools, what they’ve defined as a “change in strategy.”
Section 22 also warned the the roadblocks will continue if the government does not show willingness to negotiate.
MARICELA BASTIDA MURRIETA
