Pandemic left 5 million dropout students in Mexico

For young people, cyberknowledge is unattainable.

MEXICO, (July 28, 2021).- The Internet has become an infinite source of knowledge, where, in addition to solving any daily questions, scientific and educational content can be consulted for free, such as virtual libraries or explanatory videos.

However, while some young people, such as Julián Cantú, founder of Eva Center, argue that the web was a great tool for the creation and dissemination of their products –such as smart booths that use thermal energy to detect breast cancer– Others, like Ernesto Cabello, 18, see a great learning barrier.

“It doesn’t help me and my colleagues that all the knowledge in the world is on the internet, because here we don’t have a good WI-FI, we lack computers and now that almost everything is at a distance. Well, yes, it is hard for us to learn, ” explained the young man from Tangancícuaro, Michoacán.

Until 2020, Inegi counted a total of 34 million people in Mexico without internet access and revealed that 44.3 percent of households do not have a computer, which contributes to the educational backwardness, and that it was expanded as a result of the pandemic.

At the national level, the growth rate in the availability of computers in the home was 2.7 percent, from 2019 to 2020. Hidalgo is one of the Mexican states with the best performance, with 4.6 percent; followed by Guanajuato, with 4.3, and Yucatán, with 4.2.

This figure did not cover the needs of the students, which led more than 5.2 million students to not continue with their studies.

Gonzalo Rojón, Vice President of Research of the MX Internet Association, indicated that, although the network offers us a solution for almost everything, there is a serious problem in terms of inequality.

“Not all people are connected in the same way and this does not allow us to have the same development of those who are hyperconnected,” he said.

He noted that although the pandemic accelerated the use of digital networks, it also increased the gap between large and small companies, urging government agencies to promote better quality telecommunications, which would ensure a good future for young people.

Source: Heraldo de México

The Yucatan Times Newsroom