A Mexican Senator said Thursday his country needs a new higher education law to address issues related to colleges and universities.
Sen. Víctor Hermosillo, a Mexicali member of the National Action Party, or PAN in Spanish, released a statement during a hearing to speak Secretary of Public Education Aurelio Nuño regarding the results of the federal administration’s fourth year.
“We must leave in the past failures, look forward and, above all, not forget paradigms and ideologies that sometimes limit us,” Sen. Hermosillo said. “If there isn’t good education, there’s no development and jobs.”
Hermosillo, a member of the Senate Education Commission, said free public education is a sophism given universities cost Mexican taxpayer money.
He said public universities are as costly as private colleges.
“Basic education is the foundation (of instruction) that is mainly addressed by the Secretary of Public Education, but (the agency) is not taking care of the backbone meant by higher education,” he said.
Sen. Hermosillo proposed to enact a new higher education law in order to restate the educational model in colleges to increase registration and quality.
Hermosillo, a former Mexicali Mayor, said nationwide 3.8 million children are not attending school while 263,000 do not attend elementary school on a regular basis and of them, 260,000 have stopped attending junior high schools.
