A debt with our youth

The Mexican Government has a debt with our youth. Young people are, at least, a third part of the entire Mexican population, which in time could become a production potential with economic benefits for all. However, this sector – which is the most capable of finding a job – risks being wasted.

According to the report Education at a Glance 2017, two out of 10 Mexican adults had access to study an undergraduate program – which is why the country has scored the lowest average from all the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Moreover, the institution has also reported that Mexico is one of the member countries with the most amount of youth not in employment, education or training .

Access to secondary and higher education is not within the possibilities of many young people in our country. Public universities admit a limited number of students – which is not enough to meet the current demand. For those who manage to be admitted, the difficulty lies in the public system being able to provide them with tools that can make them competitive in the job market – if they haven't dropped off school already due to economic reasons.

Education authorities, on the one hand, have to deal with the bureaucracy of the teaching training authorities which refuse to lose their privileges; on the other, they face the corruption networks that use public universities to commit illegal practices. In the end, it's our youth who loses, because for them education is the way to forge a better path for themselves.

On the politics of youth, traced by the Secretary of Social Development, there are no practical results. The Mexican Institute of Youth ( IMJUVE ) hasn't issued a single report during this Administration regarding the current status of this sector at any category of their lives. The lack of interest the Government, education institutions, social development, and youth institutes have to see our youth achieve a better quality of life is more than evident. Mexico is letting go to waste the most productive years of a third of its population, not offering enough education opportunities; thus, denying them any advantage on the job market.

Education models worldwide are going through a major transformation. The incorporation of technology in education processes and immediate access to information through a network offer huge possibilities for individual development for the benefit of all, at increasingly lower costs. How are we planning to take advantage of these circumstances in our country?

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