Mexico

Introduction: Mexico’s administration continues to face many economic challenges, including improving the public education system, upgrading infrastructure, modernizing labor laws, and fostering private investment in the energy sector. Per capita income is roughly one-third that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has nearly tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has free trade agreements with over 50 countries. The administration passed an energy reform measure in 2008, and another fiscal reform in 2009. Mexico's GDP plunged 6.5% in 2009 as world demand for exports dropped and asset prices tumbled, but GDP is expected to post positive growth late in 2010. Primary: Students enter primary education at age 6. Total primary education as of 2007 is around 14,631,498. Out of this population, half of the students are female: 7,136,880. Approximately 2.9% of females repeat a grade, while 1.8% of males repeat. 92% of females and males exit grade 5 successfully. Secondary: Enrollment in secondary education is around 11,122,276 students. Females make up 5,707,108 while the remaining are males. The number is females is much lower than males. Tertiary: Only 1,675,6060 of the population continues onto to vocational and technical schooling. This number has stayed level for the past 6 years, altering by 300 students. 9,706,254 students attend tertiary schooling. This number is dramatically lower than the amount of students that continued to vocational or technical schooling. Graduates from programs only reach 422,267. Human and Financial Resources: 66.5% of primary teaching staff is female while 47.3% of secondary teaching staff is female. 66,994 teachers are hired for vocational and technical schooling. 25.6% of the government’s education expenditure was spent on public education.