Background and Relevance
Mario Delgado Carrillo, the Secretary of Public Education (SEP) in Mexico, led an assembly to distribute Bienestar program cards for “La Escuela es Nuestra” (LEEN) to parents and families of students in 315 basic and upper-secondary schools located in the indigenous communities of Villa Victoria, San Felipe del Progreso, and Donato Guerra in the Mexico State. This initiative, strengthened by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, aims to support educational infrastructure and student welfare.
Program Details
- The LEEN program will invest 2,000 million pesos (mdp) by 2025 to support over 4,000 schools in Mexico State, benefiting nearly one million basic and upper-secondary students.
- Nationally, the program has invested over 25,000 mdp and reached more than 76,000 educational institutions, reflecting the Mexican government’s commitment to public education.
Government Commitment and Community Involvement
Delgado Carrillo emphasized that the Mexican President has decided to continue and expand educational priority programs, such as LEEN, as part of the country’s transformation and the well-being of children, adolescents, and youth. The program now includes all public upper-secondary schools in the country, ensuring dignified learning conditions, strengthening educational infrastructure, and promoting school attendance.
The SEP secretary encouraged parents, families, and communities to join the “Vive saludable, vive feliz” (Live Healthy, Live Happy) strategy. He urged them to eliminate junk food and sodas from schools, monitor weight, visual acuity, and dental health through brigade visits, and act on recommendations for students’ well-being.
Program Implementation and Funding
Pamela López Ruiz, the LEEN program’s general director, explained that once recipients receive the Bienestar card, Comités Escolares de Administración Participativa (CEAP) can allocate resources starting July. They have one year to execute the budget on chosen projects.
- Schools with 2-50 students receive up to 200,000 pesos.
- Schools with 51-150 students get 250,000 pesos.
- Schools with over 150 students receive 600,000 pesos.
- Upper-secondary schools with 3-300 students get 600,000 pesos.
- Upper-secondary schools with 301-1,000 students receive 1,000,000 pesos.
- Upper-secondary schools with over 1,000 students get 1,500,000 pesos.
Support and Recognition
Miguel Ángel Hernández Espejel, Secretary of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation in Mexico State (SECTI), praised the LEEN program’s transformative nature, improving educational infrastructure and fostering community participation, transparency, and equity in public spending.
“Today, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the educational system. We want functional, safe, and human schools because there can be no transformation without dignified educational conditions, and no justice if school conditions are not optimal,” Hernández Espejel stated.
Ernesto Armendáriz Ramírez, Delegate of Programs for Development in Mexico State, highlighted that LEEN would benefit 632 upper-secondary schools in the state for the first time this year, with an investment of 469 million pesos.
Traditional Ceremony and Recipients
J. Guadalupe Téllez de Jesús, the consejo nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas representative, welcomed attendees with a traditional ceremony, expressing gratitude to nature for its blessings.
Symbolizing the distribution, María Crisanta Alonso Escamilla, Lourdes Sánchez Sandoval, Anayely Martínez Aguilar, Alma Guadalupe Aldana Yáñez, Apolinar Primero Santiago, Francisca Cayetano Gaspar, and Juan Bastida Colín received the payment means on behalf of their respective schools.
