Monday, October 13, 2025

Early numbers show fewer than half of Mexico’s students returned to classes

Fewer than half of Mexico’s 25 million pre-school, primary school and middle school students returned to the classroom on Monday, according to preliminary data, but the federal education minister believes that the real number of returnees is much higher.

Schools across Mexico reopened on Monday 17 months after closing due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Education Minister Delfina Gómez said Tuesday that schools reopened in 30 states with the only exceptions being Sinaloa and Baja California Sur due to the lingering presence of Hurricane Nora.

Preliminary data showed that 119,497 schools were open on Monday and more than 970,000 teachers and just over 11.4 million students – about 45% of the total – were in attendance, she said.

However, more than 20 million students were expected to have returned to the classroom by Tuesday, Gómez said.

Face masks in place, students make their way to school Monday morning.
Face masks in place, students make their way to school Monday morning.

“… There are children who didn’t show up yesterday but they’ll turn up today,” she told reporters at President López Obrador’s morning press conference, explaining that some schools are only receiving half their student body on any given day.

“… This week we’re going to be in the data confirmation process,” Gómez said. “We don’t want to give erroneous data, we want to give very precise data.”

The education minister said that she spoke to some of the students who returned to classes on Monday and their overwhelming emotion was one of excitement.

“Some little pre-schoolers said: ‘Is this a school?’ because they’d never been. Others were in third grade when [schools closed], … now they’re in fifth grade. So it was a very exciting situation,” Gómez said.

Many will have a lot of catching up to do now they are back in the classroom.

The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank, reported earlier this year that approximately 10 million students will fall behind in their learning by up to two years due to the closure of schools during the pandemic.

Gómez said authorities will also seek to get students who dropped out of school during the pandemic back to the classroom.

“In that the participation of UNICEF will be very important, it has been supporting us [in that area],” she said.

Despite the risk of coronavirus outbreaks in schools as Mexico faces a delta variant-driven third wave of the pandemic, Gómez expressed confidence that the return to in-person learning will be a success.

“If each of us does what he or she has to do – parents, teachers, authorities – … I believe there will be very good results,” she said.

Mexico News Daily 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
An aerial shot of Álamo, Veracruz, which was inundated by rainfall from the simultaneous passage of Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond.

Flooding death toll reaches 64, Veracruz most affected with 29 dead, 18 missing

0
Various rivers burst their banks and landslides occurred in Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and Querétaro as a result of the torrential rain associated with Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond last week.
The Marigalante

The Marigalante, Puerto Vallarta’s pirate ship, sinks in Bay of Banderas

0
The Marigalante, an ornate, wooden replica of Christopher Columbus’s Santa María, had long been a fixture of Puerto Vallarta’s skyline, offering nightly pirate-themed dinner cruises and daytime snorkeling tours.
A giant 2026 World Cup ball was installed at the Terminal 2 entrance of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) this week.

Mexico’s week in review: CIBanco collapse and Banamex bid shake financial sector

0
Other headlines included several positive developments in the Sheinbaum administration's fight against violent crime and tax evasion.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity