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Politics and Activism

Teacher Protests In Oaxaca

Education reform doesn't just affect the teachers, but the village, too.

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Teacher Protests In Oaxaca
Ruptly

Many unfortunate incidents have been happening for the last couple weeks all over the United States, but there are many things just right across the border. Mexico is in immense trouble with their corrupt government and new policies. Specifically in the state of Oaxaca which is divided into eight different regions. Which basically means there are many different dialects and have many cultures within. The uniqueness of this particular state is many indigenous people live there and have kept their traditions alive.

Mexico does not have the same access of education that the United States offers. For school, students have to pay their own uniform and books plus supplies. Many families come from a poor household so some children don't get to go to school; and have to go straight into helping their families get a new source of income. But some parts of Mexico are secluded off from the rest of the villages. Those specific areas have a population that is mostly made up indigenous latinx that need education but don't get it.

Fast forward to 2016, a new policy has been enacted which completely changed education reform in Mexico. The government of Mexico changed the policies into a neoliberal policy which means control of economics and social studies are being transferred from a public sector to a more private sector. So basically the government has more control of the education system and the people who are teaching at the public schools.

With the new reform came testing to certify all the teacher's credentials. In small villages in Mexico, if one of your family member's is a teacher and they happen to retire they can pass down their job to another family member that might not have the credentials teachers need to teach. And getting a job in Mexico is particularly difficult so with that happening, teachers who do have the credentials to teach are not getting the same opportunities.

So when the new policy was put into motion, teachers in Mexico went on strike. Then the government received it as threatening so they sent out many armed police officers to counteract the strikers. Between one of the debacles a bullet was shot and that began the intense protests. The police officers then began to throw bombs and start fires on its own civilians. It was the start to a war zone between the government and the people of Mexico. In the first few days 10 people have been killed and more than 50 injured. But when people are hurt in Mexico there isn't proper health care to take them to an emergency room. Many of them stay hurt and eventually die because of the injury. The next few days the police officers started to attack students and children of the state. Far too many lives have been at risk and the media does not talk about it.

Beyond any of this, I am on the teacher's side specifically because some of them are teaching communities that are isolated from the villages. Indigenous latinx do not have the same treatment as everyone else because they can't get any form of education. So teachers who might not have the credentials went out of their way to go teach them higher education so they can keep advancing in Mexico's socioeconomic culture.

The media itself is lacking informing others of what is going on. The government is in charge of the media and what they can report, so if any of the media talks about the destruction that is going on in Oaxaca, then they will get shut down. The villages in Oaxaca are being currently isolated from the rest of Mexico. The government has already shut down their electricity and connections to the rest of the states.

So it is up to the media of the internet to focus on these issues. Many protests are being started to help Oaxaca, everyone has a right to an education. It is a human right and if the government is trying to take it away you fight back. I stand in solidarity with Mexico and all the facts are there for you to take that same step.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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