Education-Mexico New Drive to Promote WOMEN'S Education Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Education-Mexico New Drive to Promote WOMEN'S Education Inter Press Service 19-APR-99 MEXICO CITY, (Apr. 18) IPS - The Mexican government has opened a new campaign to convince adolescent girls not to abandon their school books for a low-paying job. The program, launched this month, targets girls who drop out of school for economic or domestic reasons. Nearly 15 percent of the 1,500,000 girls who begin primary school each year will not graduate from high school. In other words, they will not complete the basic education needed for even low-skilled jobs in Mexico. With the support of the Organization of American States (OAS), Mexico's Ministry of Public Education (SEP) has initiated "The Road to Secondary Education" to reduce the dropout rate of girls. Mexico is not the only country where there is a gender gap in the education sector. Worldwide, 80 percent of boys attend school, compared to 64 percent of girls, according to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This year, however, of the applicants for admission to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for the academic year 1999-2000, 54.9 percent were female students against 45.1 percent male. "Gender differences must be considered in designing national education policies because the lack of professional preparation among women is harmful to the country's development," Lorenia Parada, a member of the University Program on Gender Studies, told IPS. Whatever measures adopted to promote women's education "are relevant if you consider that until very recently, the issue was non-existent" for the Mexican government, she added. Official statistics confirm the threat to the country's development prospects through the lack of education. In Mexico, only one student out of a hundred who begin primary school will study at the university level and nearly half of the population never even finishes primary school! "The Road to Secondary Education" involves teachers, students and their parents in attempting to reverse the tendency of adolescent girls to replace their studies with domestic life or poorly paid work. Teachers will instruct students about the individual and social benefits derived from girls continuing their education. They will have at their disposal instructional and audio-visual materials to motivate girls to register for high school, as well as materials targeting parents to encourage their daughters. The girls will have a chance to decide what kind of future they want for themselves. Also, in personal workbooks, boys as well as girls will learn about the importance of sharing responsibilities at home. They will also learn that men and women have many professional capabilities. The gender education initiative will continue until the current school year ends in July, under the SEP's co-ordination. Educational authorities decided to promote the program, according to its coordinator Sofialeticia Morales, due to the fact that at the primary level, girls generally do better in school than boys, have fewer disciplinary problems and lower dropout rates. However, "the girls' responsibility and tenacity are cut short as they pass from primary to secondary school. For every 100 boys who finish primary school, 90 continue on to high school, compared to 85 of 100 girls," explained Morales. In Latin America and the Caribbean, on average, more girls than boys attend high school (114 girls for every 100 boys.) Mexico invests only $110 for education per person, which is 92.7 percent less than the United States or Canada, Mexico's partners for five years in the North American Free Trade Agreement. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-04.25.99-12:09:57-2127