Public and private schools have until Monday June 6 to determine if they are interested in changing to the 185 days school calendar or keeping the current 200 days calendar, said Public Education Secretary Aurelio Nuño Mayer.
If the schools choose to adopt the first option, they will have until June 13 to consult the decision with parents through School Councils for Social Participation. If accepted, a note on the change will be made, which the school director will give to the area supervisor, and from there to the local educational authority, who will report by July 1 if the change was authorized.
Nuño Mayer said that this measure is for all schools countrywide, which can choose the calendar that better suits them, whether of 185 or 200 days, keeping in mind that the number of hours of study will remain the same in both calendars, with longer schooldays in the first case.
The secretary also said that the pilot program for summer schools will begin this summer, offering sporting and cultural activities.
DISSIDENT TEACHERS LOSING MOMENTUM
On the theme of the dissident teachers, the secretary stated that he remained open to dialogue as long as 100 percent of the country’s schools are working, without which “there is no possibility for dialogue.”
Furthermore, he said that the teachers needed to accept the education reform, and that meanwhile the Public Education Secretariat (SEP) would continue applying pay cuts to teachers missing classes, a measure that has led to 54,000 cuts from dissident teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), in cases with more than three absences. The pay cuts amount to a total of 26.5 million pesos ($1.44 million).
Nuño Mayer also considered that CNTE’s participation was dwindling, having been able to call on up to 50,000 teachers a year ago, while barely reaching 5,000 today. In this sense, the official said that the CNTE leaders believe they can remain in control and tell teachers what to do, but teachers are free to choose what to vote for.
We will not return to old practices of gaining things through blackmail and oppression.”
— Aurelio Nuño Mayer, Public Education Secretary