Acapulco, Guerrero - In the Nahuatl, Amuzga and Mepha'a languages, indigenous teachers from the Mountain and Costa Chica [Little Coast] regions of Guerrero affirmed that in their communities and schools,
"we are tired of so much pretence, so much deception. We can't believe in the educational model that the federal government wants to impose, when we have poverty at the door of our homes and in the classroom. We are prepared for resistance."At the opening the Third Regional Forum on Educational Reform, convened by the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) and the federal Secretariat of Government Relations, the dissident teachers defended the struggle of Section 14 of Guerrero, without which, they said, "we would not be here."
About 500 representatives from various regions of the state, as well as teacher delegations from Michoacan, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Mexico City and San Luis Potosi gathered in the Imperial World Convention Center in Acapulco.
Teachers Octavio Condo, Pedro Ramirez and Anastacio Marciano demanded that the construction of a new educational project
"take into account the views of teachers, students, parents and authorities." Opening the dialogue on the education reform, "was an achievement of the teachers, not a government handout, but they don't want to listen. It will be their responsibility to decide whether they want to accompany the teachers who are seeking a free and critical education," they said.They also insisted on the repeal of the amendments to the third and 73 Articles of the Constitution articles, [which establish a Professionl Teaching Career and require that granting of all positions and promotions be based on universal evaluation] and that any assessment of teachers considers those who have a native language.
"We ought to think," they said, "what subject we want to teach and the kind of school we want for Mexico and Guerrero. We need an education that responds to the realities facing our peoples and their cultural diversity, so we demand that federal and state authorities take into account the proposals presented here. We do not want more pretence and lies."The teachers, who are from the Low Mountain region, said:
"We didn't come to ask the authorities to see whether something can be done for education. We know that's possible, but they have never wanted to take us into account.Therefore, they have demanded the creation of an autonomous state institute for evaluation which, "doesn't operate as an agency for persecution of teachers."
Alos attending the event were Juan Salgado Brito, state representative of the Secretariat of Government Relations, and the head of the state Secretariat of Education, Silvia Romero, to whom the leader of the State Coordinating Committee of Education Workers of Guerrero (CETEG), Gonzalo Juarez Ocampo said that the CNTE
"is prepared for resistance. We know we are not going to give in, but we are confident we can win with reasons and arguments."He said that the regional forums are being attended by
"rebel teachers who have a social conscience and we are convinced that the current educational model must change."He explained that since the adoption of the reform, in Guerrero,
"there was strong rejection. We have demonstrated the degree to which the teachers are fed up, but we also come to say that we have proposals and a project to defend the public school."At the forum, Carlos Fazio, a professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and contributor to La Jornada, gave a lecture, in which he called for the creation of a national referendum on Mexico's educational project.
He noted that today face two completely different educational projects:
"that led by the dissident teachers, which seeks to promote teaching which forms citizens who are critical, educated, informed and free, over against one which follows the dictates of big capitalism, which seeks the formation of individuals who are docile, uninformed and unable to recognize the lies and traps of governments."Spanish original