Summer is officially over for close to 30 million Mexicans, the students and teachers who today started the 2018-2019 school year.

Some 25.6 million basic education students — from kindergarten to preparatory school — attended classes this morning along with 1.2 million teachers in 226,200 public and private schools across the country.

Nearly 1.3 million of those students live in Mexico City, requiring a special security and traffic operation by the city government.

Starting at 6:00am today, 28,000 police officers in 2,156 patrol cars with the support of 20 ambulances, 31 tow trucks and eight helicopters took to the streets and the air in the country’s capital.

The C5 security command center monitored streets adjoining schools and universities through its 2,582 surveillance cameras, while the emergency services 911 and Mi Policía en Mi Escuela (My Police in My School) were standing by.

One particular feature of the new school year will be the implementation of a new education model by the federal Public Education Secretariat (SEP).

The updated curriculum is organized around three main components, the first of which corresponds to academic formation and consists of subjects taught across the country following a unified program.

The second component is personal and social development while the third, called curricular autonomy, gives school communities the opportunity to define part of the curriculum according to their interests and needs.

Implementation will begin at the preschool level, first and second-year primary and first-year secondary school.

Source. Milenio (sp)