5.2 Education

3 min read•april 29, 2021

Brittany Schwikert

AP Spanish Language 🇪🇸

54 resources

See Units

5.2: Education 🏫

As of 2019, Mexico holds the largest population of all Spanish-speaking countries. Let’s take a deep dive into their education system and later compare it to ours in the United States. In Mexico, basic education is divided into three levels: primary (ages 6-12), junior high (ages 12-15), and high school (ages 15-18). Throughout all three levels of schooling, attendance is mandatory. Public schools in Mexico are free for all citizens, but at times can be underfunded and lacking in resources. For that reason, private and international schools are available as well.

Image from Unsplash

Educational Stages

Nursery School (Preescolar) 👶

3 years of nursery school
Ages 3-5
The 3rd year is equivalent to Kindergarten in the USA

Primary School (Escuela primaria) 🧒

6 years of primary school
Ages 6-12
Organized by grade level: primero, segundo, tercero, cuarto, quinto, sexto
Usually 4 hours long, with some schools offering a morning sessions (el matutino) or an afternoon session (el vespertino)

Middle School (Secundaria) 🧒

3 years of middle schools
Ages 12-16
Organized by grade level: séptimo, octavo, noveno

High School (Bachillerato / Preparatoria) 🧑

3 years of high school
Ages 15-18
Organized by grade level: décimo, undécimo, duodécimo
Two types of high schools

Bachillerato

2 or 3 years
Provides vocational training to become a skilled work
Ex: accountant, technician, secretary

Preparatoria

3 years
Divided into 6 semesters, latter semesters include some degree of specialization in sciences or social sciences
Prepares the student to continue studying at a university

University (Universidad) 👩‍🎓

Undergraduate studies are usually around 4 years and divided into semesters or quarters
Mexico offers similar educational degrees to USA

4 year Bachelor degree - Licenciatura
2 year Master’s degree - Maestría
3 year Doctoral degree - Doctorado

*Information gathered from Secretaría de Educación Pública, SEP

México vs. USA: Education Edition 🇲🇽🇺🇸

Schedule (horario escolar) 🗓️

🇲🇽 Students in Mexico go to school for 4 hours each day, with some schools having 2 school sessions of either in the morning or in late afternoon
🇺🇸 Students in the US go to school for around 7 hours each day

Grading (sistema de calificación) 💯

🇲🇽 Grades are given on a 1 to 10 scale. Students who score less than a 6 are retained for the next school year.
🇺🇸Grades are given on the A, B, C, D, and F scale. Students who score less than D are retained for the next school year.

Relationships between teachers and students (relaciones entre maestros y edustiantes) 👩‍🏫 👨‍🎓

🇲🇽Student-teacher relationships are more formal in Mexico, students are expected to show respect and there is less interaction between students and their teachers outside of school
🇺🇸Teachers and students tend to have very close relationships due to the abundance of clubs and school wide activities

*Information gathered from EricDigest