According to Van Den Branden et al. (2011), access to education is generally believed to raise the individual’s chances to build a prosperous life, find a productive job, and move upward the social ladder and to integrate in a globalised society. Education is also believed to contribute to a more peaceful world, by reinforcing the respect for human rights, freedom, tolerance and understanding (World Bank, n.d.). In Mexico, like other countries in the Latin-American
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region, many children face difficulties in achieving economic and social success, normally because of circumstances beyond their control: gender, race, language, location of birth, or their family background (World Bank, n.d.).
The disadvantaged groups need access to equitable and inclusive education to improve their lives in different ways; education is known to have high returns for individuals when it comes to earning. Education is also associated with better health, a higher probability of labour participation, a lower total fertility rate for women, a higher likelihood of participation in associative and civic life, among many other benefits for the individuals and their communities (World Bank, n.d.). As mentioned by World Bank (n.d.), equity and inclusion in education are also essential for shared prosperity and sustainable development. Disparities in education are one of the major drivers of income inequality, both within countries and internationally, those in the bottom 40 percent of a nation’s income distribution are unlikely to be successful in a globalized economy without fulfilling basic education (World Bank, n.d.).
As cited by World Bank (2009, p.21), “99 of every 100 out of school children live in the less developed countries”. Educational disparities have emerged as a key issue in developing countries, and educating the disadvantaged has emerged as a global concern (World Bank, 2002). According to Harber (2014), education has been a key factor in economic development by producing skilled and productive workers for the economy, unfortunately educational opportunities are limited for some of the different groups in society. As described by Harber (2014), there are out of school-factors in developing countries that might affect who goes to school, who drops off and who benefits from schooling.
Mexico faces social and economic inequity; the gap between the rich and the poor is big; the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita in 2015 was 12 806 USD a year, less than the OECD average of 29 016 USD a year; the top 20% of the population earn nearly fourteen times as much as the bottom 20% (OECD, 2015). The most deprived groups have difficulties to access to basic social needs such as social security, job opportunities, health services and education, this suggest that breaking the poverty cycle is complicated. Equitable and inclusive education matter in Mexico because of the great necessity to improve children’s life through education; according to official statistics from the National Council of the Evaluation of Development Policies, CONEVAL (2016); 53,418,151 Mexicans suffer poverty, they represent 43.6% of the countries’ population, 58% of those who live in rural areas are poor and 77.6% of the indigenous population are poor.
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When it comes to education, the average maximum schooling years in was 8.6 years by 2015 and 9.1 years by 2016, this variation suggest that the efforts to achieve substantial changes have been insufficient (INEGI, 2015). The situation in the country leaves no room for improvisation, the federal and state governments haven’t been able to provide vulnerable groups with opportunities to develop socially and economically. A clear manifestation of the inefficiency of the governmental institutions towards the poor are the limitations in the education system;
incapable to produce accessible educational opportunities for all, to provide appropriate teaching to their realities and in achieving satisfactory learning outcomes, that can allow individuals to break the poverty cycle (INEE, 2013).
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Summary
The literature review has provided an insight to the relevant subjects of this study; equity and inclusion in education in Mexico. It was argued that the inclusive education movement was focused initially on people with disabilities, but more recently, the concept of inclusion expanded to those who are at risk of marginalisation or exclusion for different reasons.
Nevertheless, literature in the field of education revealed, that educational institutions struggle with children’s diversity and tend to ignore the differences in pupils from disadvantaged groups.
MES was presented, as well as the TTIs. The TTI in Mexico are called Escuelas Normales (EN); its curriculum and practices attempt to develop very specific professional competences in the teachers that address the basic education in Mexico. A comparison of rural and urban schools in Mexico were discussed. Evidence displayed in comparative tables suggested the gap between the resources in urban and rural schools and in the pupils’ homes.
This study takes the SDG4 targets and strategies as a guide to interpret the respondent’s perceptions. Using the Education 2030 framework-equity and inclusion as the analytical framework for this research was a natural decision; its basis and recommendations represent valuable measurements in addressing relevant issues present in education in Mexico. The next chapter will present the education 2030 framework for action in detail, as well as the SDG4’s targets and indicative strategies.
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3 The Education 2030 framework for action
This study adopts The Education 2030 Framework for Action as the overarching theoretical framework for the study. The SDG4 is the education-related goal of the United National 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Incheon Declaration constitutes the commitment of the education community to SDG4-Education 2030, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development (UNESCO, 2015). The SDG4 target is to: “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO, n.d., p.1). The education 2030 framework for action underlines the need of specific measurements by all those involved in education, and provides specific strategies and policy recommendations (UNESCO, n.d.).
The Education 2030 Framework for Action was chosen as a guide to obtain a more critical approach of the role of teacher education and policy making in equity and inclusion.
Furthermore, the education 2030 framework for action provides a roadmap for achieving the 10 targets of the SDG4; this will provide a frame of reference to make a critical analysis of the findings. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that the some of the targets in the SDG4 are not considered for this research; they are focused for tertiary and pre-primary education; hence they are not directly related to the subjects of this study. The Framework for Action is highly relevant for this study since it outlines how to translate into practice the strategies and means to pursue the targets of the SGD4. As previously pointed out, this research explores the influence of the teacher education in the search of equitable and inclusive education, the education 2030 framework for action will be used as the lens to interpret the findings and respond to the research questions.