Day 2: Education in Chiapas

A public school near Paleque

A child working along side his family at a small food stand

Over the past two days, as we travelled through the town of Palenque and visited cultural sites on the way to San Cristobal de las Casas, I noticed many young school-aged children. Working alongside their parents or apparently by themselves, children as young as only five or six were selling small trinkets or fruit to tourists during school hours. It seemed weird to me to see all these children out and working when they should be in school. This got me wondering about the public school system, access to education and in particular what this means for the indigenous children of Chiapas. 

I questioned our tour guide, Patrick, and was shocked and saddened by what I heard.  In Mexico, schooling is “compulsory” up to grade six. In the larger cites f Chiapas, most children complete grade six and many continue on to secondary school. The majority of Chiapas’ children, especially those from rural communities, are lucky to complete grade three.  School is not easy for these children. Many walk for kilometres on an empty stomach to get to school. This afternoon, as we traveled by bus, we saw many children around the ages of 6-10 walking along side the highway on their way home from class. 

Once at school, supplies are limited and must be shared. Teachers are in short supply and one teacher may teach all of the grades in a single classroom. There are no secondary schools in rural communities. If a child wants to continue beyond grade six they would have to leave their families and travel to a larger city. Once there, they would not be able to find a place to stay or an employer willing to work around a student’s schedule. 

An additional barrier to education for the indigenous people of Chiapas is extreme poverty. Many children must assist their family in earning an income. They learn crafts and trades, sell goods, harvest crops and look after younger siblings. We often saw whole families working, infants strapped to their mother’s back. There is no child care or maternity leave for these families. Not working means not feeding the family, and it is a struggle to afford the basic necessities.   

A positive development in the education system is the result of the San Andres Accords between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government in 1996. These assert that schooling in Chiapas must be provided in indigenous languages to preserve the culture of the people. This is at times a double-edged sword as many communities cannot find qualified teachers who have the required language skills. Unfortunately, although school is compulsory up to grade six, attendance is not enforced.

Kaylan Bartholomew