In the media

In Mexico, two former officials of a state Education Ministry have been charged with embezzlement and failure to fulfill legal duties for allegedly diverting approximately 290 million MXN (approx.16 million USD) from 2018–2021. Funds originally allocated for staff salaries and benefits were misused via trusts and a financial company.

The civil organization called for the six aspiring governors of Mexico State to commit to actions such as debugging the education payroll and providing resources to schools in marginalized areas. "Mexicans have a right to know which candidates for state governor are in favor of educational reform and which are in favor of the comfortable status quo, as well as which candidates for governor are committed to the rule of law and which will continue to allow a series of abuses and omissions of the law," said the organization.

Last December, 1,055 high school communities around Mexico – comprising almost 1.3 million students – engaged in a transparency and accountability exercise. This involves each principal of public high schools completing three electronic forms covering more than 100 indicators. These range from income and expenditure, to enrolment and academic performance, to the condition of school equipment and infrastructure.

Mexico enacted its new transparency reform, this amendment to the constitution is a welcome change and will enhance the system through which people access public information. Access-to-information laws are vital for transparency and a key safeguard against corruption.

Most people worry about pupils skiving off. In Mexico, it is the teachers. The government Census of Public Schools (2013) in Mexico shows that 13% of all teachers registered on the schools' payrolls do not turn up to work. The government will now comb through the data to see who among the mi..

The reforms impose centralized teacher assessment and seek to end corrupt practices in the education system. Those practices include the buying and selling of teaching positions. However, unions say the reforms could lead to big lay-offs, and critics also suggest they may be paving the way for the privatization of Mexico's education system.