Equity in education at scale in Mexico. What does it mean?

• In Event: Towards learning equity: What should (and shouldn’t) be scaled up?

Proposal

In Mexico, we studied the role of diversity, regional disparities and socio-economic gaps in explaining inequity in learning outcomes among primary school children. We draw on learning results in the most recent national standardized tests available (2017 and 2018) that show enormous gaps between regions, degree of marginalization and indigenous vs. non-indigenous populations. Our evidence that supports the hypothesis the gaps are, at least in part, a consequence of applying homogeneous “at scale” type policies, curriculum and pedagogies to such very diverse populations of school children. Our findings support an important need to tailor educational programs to the particular cultural, geographical and educational characteristics of the target population of learners.

Poverty among indigenous people is greater in rural areas, affects younger children disproportionately, and increases among speakers of indigenous languages. Among indigenous children aged 3-17, more than one third (35.5%) lived in extreme poverty and 43.2% in moderate poverty; among their non-indigenous peers, these figures were 8.4% and 42.3%, respectively. If the children are speakers of an indigenous language, more than half (54%) are in extreme poverty and 36.8% in moderate poverty. Thus, 78.7% of indigenous children between the ages 3-17, and 90.8% of those who speak an indigenous language, live in conditions of poverty (INEE-UNICEF, 2015).

Further, with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have very little information on learning outcomes in spite of serious disruptions of educational processes. Greater investment in historically marginalized population is required, as well as for the diversification of remedial interventions for different groups of marginalized students. We suggest that efforts to achieve mass education “at scale” must also consider the trade-offs that can better attend to access and quality of disadvantaged and minoritized indigenous children in Mexico.

Author

• SYLVIA IRENE SCHMELKES, U IBEROAMERICANA, A.C. - UIB540920IT3