After four days of protests from all sectors of society, Mario Delgado announced the reversal. The initial change had been justified as necessary due to a heatwave & to serve the World Cup.

This article by Alexia Villaseñor, Alonso Urrutia and Iván Saldaña originally appeared in the May 12, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

After four days of protests from all sectors of society, the country’s educational authorities reversed the decision to modify the school calendar, so the cycle will conclude on July 15, as originally planned for the 2025-2026 school year.

During more than six hours of closed-door discussion, led by the head of Public Education, Mario Delgado, the national council of authorities of the sector reversed the agreement that last Thursday it announced as having been “unanimously” accepted to bring forward the closure of the courses, with the argument of mitigating the consequences of the high temperatures in the country and due to the holding of the World Cup.

First, with the departure of some state secretaries and later, via a video message, the decision was made to maintain the current school year without changes and thus count 185 effective days of class.

Delgado Carrillo reported the additional decision that, in the face of extraordinary circumstances or particular conditions related to high temperatures or the logistical requirements derived from the World Cup, adjustments may be made to the school calendar, provided that compliance with the study plan and programs is guaranteed, in accordance with article 87 of the General Education Law.

Yesterday, in her daily press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum defended her Secretary of Public Education, asserting that last week’s decision to modify the school calendar “was not a whim” of Mario Delgado, but rather a unanimous decision by the 32 state education secretaries, even though some governors—from the opposition—later expressed their disagreement with the measure. She also accused them of launching a campaign against Delgado after the announcement of this change to the end of the school year.

From the SEP, Delgado Carrillo stated: “We know how to correct course because we know how to listen. The proposal of May 7th served its purpose of sparking a necessary debate about the flexibility of the school calendar.”

In his statement on X, the official referred to a condition that, however, was not put into practice for the decision adopted last week: that the New Mexican School model stipulates never making decisions behind the backs of others or in isolation from the rest of the country. He acknowledged that last Thursday, the 7th of this month, they failed to listen to voices such as those of parents and teachers.

Now, he added, this decision prioritizes the students’ superior right to a comprehensive education, while providing stability to millions of families whose daily organization depends on the school calendar.

Delgado, at the beginning of the meeting with state authorities – and in the only segment that was public – issued definitions on the development of the school year to which he had not referred before: “the school is a territory of learning, not a place to shelter girls and boys for the convenience of the market.”

He considered it unfair that companies expect schools to solve their lack of labor flexibility. At the same time, he stated that, generally, every year after June 15th, “classrooms remain open without any real educational purpose, simply to meet attendance requirements; this undermines the dignity of teachers and turns school into a forced confinement. This downtime is sometimes just bureaucracy that steals time from family life and the mental health of our children.”

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