Aurelio Nuño Mayer, head of the Public Education Secretariat (SEP), warned that teachers who suspend classes today in response to the calle made by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) will have it discounted from their pay, assuring that there is firmness in the application of educational law and observance of the rule of law.
Referring to the call made by the CNTE to suspend activities on Friday 15, he called on the teachers to not be fooled by some leaderships, because the law will be applied.
Teachers from the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero and Michoacán who choose to strike will have it discounted from their pay, as indicated by the law, he insisted.
Nuño Mayer also announced that on Monday the first two million middle and high school students would be affiliated to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
He added that all public school students from those levels will have the right to affiliate to the IMSS, a campaign that will start on Monday with the presence of the president, in an effort in which the Public Education, Social Development and Health Secretariats will be involved so that students can have a social security number.
Nuño Mayer met separately with basic education school supervisors, to whom he explained that their are advances on the Education reform, with the transformation of the political system, the changes and campuses through the Schools at the Center program, or Plan Escuela al Centro, that will grant them greater management autonomy. Other notable advances included the improvement in infrastructure through the Escuelas al CIEN (National School Infrastructure Bonds) or Schools at 100 Percent program, the professionalization and evaluation of teachers and the revision of the model of education.
CNTE GOES AHEAD WITH STRIKES
Despite warnings from the SEP, members of CNTE in Oaxaca suspended classes and blocked roads in protest against the approval of the state education law.
In Chiapas the CNTE attempted to block the entrances to cities Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal de las Casas, where they resorted to arson. The confrontation with federal police officers led to tear gas being used, with eight people being detained according to police sources and 20 according to the CNTE.
In the state of Michoacán members of the CNTE blocked roads, the facilities of the Arcelor mittal company and the access to the Lázaro Cárdenas port, stopping all freight traffic.
THE NEWS