MEXICO CITY – Some 2.5 million elementary school students have dropped out of school for good during the 2019-2020 school year, which was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, according to estimates by the Ministry of Public Education (SEP).
On Aug. 26, 2019, Esteban Moctezuma, head of the agency, reported that the 2019-2020 school year began with 25,417,000 students enrolled at the basic level.
However, yesterday, Saturday, the authorities of the sector indicated that 10% of the students would have abandoned their activities.
Luciano Concheiro Bórquez, Undersecretary of Higher Secondary Education, said there was an estimated 8% dropout, although at the basic level, he said, the dropout was 10%.
“The slogan is that no one should be left behind, an enormous effort is being made so that this dropout rate can be brought down,” he added.
“We are convinced that the transition to digital culture will allow us to build a new type of contact, of community,” he said.
With the start of the next school year, in which classes will be given through computers, the undersecretary stressed the importance of guaranteeing connectivity for everyone.
Zero rejection in universities
Likewise, Concheiro Bórquez presented the status of the Zero Rejection program, through which students who were not accepted to any university can enter any educational institution.
In this sense, the SEP has 37,977 places available in 185 universities.
The authorities recommended visiting the page of the Zero Rejection program so that they can see the 2,860 careers that are available, the universities that could accept them and the states where they are located
