Students, parents and teachers protest private education tax

Around 100 students from Guadalajara’s many private schools protested the federal government’s proposal to tax private education in the Parque Metropolitano last Sunday.

Students from the ITESO, UNIVA, UVM and Instituto de Ciencias universities and pupils from private primary and secondary schools were joined by parents and teachers in voicing their opposition to the plan to introduce a 16-percent value-added tax to private education.

“The intention was take a picture to send to every deputy and every senator in Jalisco to show them that parents and students are unhappy with the proposed tax reforms,” explained Pedro Kumamoto, president of the ITESO student body.

Private education in Mexico is not the luxury that is in many countries; in many cases it is a necessity. The quality of public education in Mexico is notoriously poor and there are not enough public schools to cater for the number of students that want to enroll each year.

The University of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest public educational institution, has to reject 54 percent of applicants at college level and 30 percent at high school level, according to data from the Control Escolar de la Universidad. Meanwhile, Mexico City’s UNAM, the nation’s largest public university, rejected 92 percent of applicants at college level last year.