Oecd Thematic Review of Tertiary Education
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OECD THEMATIC REVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION Country Background Report for Mexico Ministry of Public Education November 2006 Preface This Country Background Report presents the current state of the higher education system in Mexico and its evolution in the last decade. It was prepared by the office of the Undersecretary of Higher Education of the Federal Government’s Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). The original version of this report was written in Spanish and published by Fondo de Cultura Económica in 2006 and titled ¨La Política Educativa y la Educación Superior en México: Balance de una década 1995-2005¨. The book was originally translated into English by Claudia Esteve. With this report, Mexico contributes to the project coordinated by the OECD dealing with the comparative analysis of federal policies and the evolution of the systems of higher education of several countries during the last decade (The OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education). The report was produced by a team coordinated by Julio Rubio, Undersecretary of Higher Education SEP, with the participation of Jose A. Abud, Ignacio E. Arvizu, Eugenio Cetina, Francisco Demeneghi, Bulmaro Fuentes, Luis Mier y Terán, Hugo Moreno, Arturo Nava, Fernando Treviño and Armando Zapatero. The team was technically assisted by José Luis Cuevas, Efraín Juárez, Martha Riebeling, and Maria del Carmen Silva. Even though the thematic report was elaborated by SEP, it includes opinions and points of view of different actors interested in the development of the Mexican Higher Education System. Felicia Knaul was in charge of the management of Mexico’s participation in the OECD project. México, D. F., 2006. 2 Table of contents Table of contents........................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Higher education in the Mexican context.................................................................. 34 1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 34 1.2 Population trends and cultural diversity ........................................................................... 35 1.3 Economic, social and cultural aspects............................................................................... 37 1.4 Political system and organisation...................................................................................... 39 1.5 The labour market............................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 2: General overview of the higher education system..................................................... 43 2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 43 2.2 Institutions ........................................................................................................................ 43 2.2.1 The federal public institution subsystem ................................................................... 43 2.2.2 The state public university subsystem....................................................................... 44 2.2.3 The public technological institute subsystem............................................................ 45 2.2.4 The public technological university subsystem......................................................... 46 2.2.5 The public polytechnic university subsystem............................................................ 46 2.2.6 The intercultural public university subsystem........................................................... 47 2.2.7 The subsystem of teacher education institutions ....................................................... 47 2.2.8 The private institution subsystem.............................................................................. 49 2.2.9 The public research centres subsystem...................................................................... 49 2.2.10 Other public institutions .......................................................................................... 50 2.3 Institutions’ typology........................................................................................................ 50 2.4 Enrolment.......................................................................................................................... 51 2.5 Student’s profile................................................................................................................ 53 2.6 Acquisition of degrees and certificates ............................................................................. 53 2.7 Graduates .......................................................................................................................... 53 2.8 Professors.......................................................................................................................... 54 2.9 Regulatory framework ...................................................................................................... 55 2.10 Agencies empowered for policy implementation ........................................................... 56 2.11 Agencies responsible for financing................................................................................. 56 2.12 Assessment agencies....................................................................................................... 57 2.13 Tensions in the higher education system ........................................................................ 58 2.14 The National Education Programme 2001-2006: strategic objectives and national goals ................................................................................................................................................ 59 2.15 System’s evolution between 1994-1995 and 2004-2005 academic years....................... 65 Chapter 3: The higher education system and the labour market ................................................. 69 3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 69 3.2 The professional labour market in 1990-2000 .................................................................. 70 3.3 The Mexican Observatory of the Labour Market ............................................................. 74 3.4. Monitoring higher education graduates ........................................................................... 81 3.5 Activities for professional formation................................................................................ 85 Chapter 4: The regional role of higher education........................................................................ 89 4.1 Policies and background ................................................................................................... 89 4.2 The regional dimension in the National Education Programme 2001-2006..................... 90 4.3 Consortium of Mexican Universities................................................................................ 96 4.4 Institutions and their contribution to regional development ............................................. 96 Chapter 5: The role of research and innovation in higher education ........................................ 101 5.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 101 5.2 Strengthening academic bodies....................................................................................... 103 5.3 National System of Researchers ..................................................................................... 115 5.4 The SEP-CONACyT Programme to Support the Basic Sciences................................... 121 5.5 The SEP-CONACyT National Programme for the Strengthening of Postgraduate Education .............................................................................................................................. 126 5.6 The Fiscal Incentives Programme for Research and Technological Development ........ 130 5.7 CONACyT’s Mixed Funds Programme ......................................................................... 131 5.8 Federal investment.......................................................................................................... 132 Chapter 6: Equity ...................................................................................................................... 136 6.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 136 3 6.2 The higher education students’ profile ........................................................................... 137 6.3 Equity and the National Education Programme 2001-2006 ........................................... 138 6.4 The National Programme of Scholarships for Higher Education, PRONABES............. 139 6.5 Convergence of PRONABES with Oportunidades......................................................... 144 6.6 Other scholarship programmes in favour of equity ........................................................ 145 6.7 Education loans............................................................................................................... 146 6.8 Expanding access opportunities to the public subsystem ..............................................