This report was prepared as part of the OECD’s series of Reviews of National Policies for Education, and undertaken by the Policy Advice and Implementation Division within the Directorate for Education and Skills. The review was coordinated by Thomas Weko (Senior Analyst, OECD), and preparation of the report was coordinated by Simon Roy (Analyst, OECD). The review team consisted of Javier Botero Álvarez, World Bank Lead Education Specialist for Latin America; Pablo Landoni-Couture, Dean, Instituto Universitario Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes and Professor, Catholic University of Uruguay; Elizabeth Balbachevsky, Associate Professor, University of São Paulo; Thomas Weko, Senior Analyst, OECD; and Simon Roy, Analyst, OECD (see Annex A for profiles of the review team). Simon Roy, Thomas Weko, and Daniel Trujillo (OECD Consultant) authored the report, with input from Pablo Landoni and Elizabeth Balbachevsky.
We wish to especially thank the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) for its support of the review. This support was guided by Salvador Malo, Director General for University Education, who served as the national co-ordinator for the review and oversaw the preparation of a country background report.
During a fact-finding mission to Mexico (conducted from 18 to 28 June 2018) by the OECD review team, the team met with a wide range of government officials and higher education stakeholders. This included SEP staff responsible for higher education planning, steering and student aid; quality assurance bodies; the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT); representatives of national social partners in higher education and management; and staff and students in higher education institutions. The review also undertook visits to higher education institutions in the states of Puebla and Hidalgo, as well as institutions and state authorities in the state of Yucatán. The team is grateful to all of the above for their time and valuable input. The mission concluded with a presentation of preliminary findings made to Otto Granados Roldán, Secretary for Public Education, Rodolfo Tuirán Gutiérrez, Undersecretary for Higher Education, and staff from the Secretariat of Public Education (see Annex B for a schedule of the review visit).
Key planning and operational support for the project was provided by Manuela Fitzpatrick (OECD, consultant), and administrative support was provided by Jonathan Wright (OECD, Project Assistant), who also prepared the report for publication. The review team is grateful for the feedback and support received from OECD analysts Jose-Luis Alvarez-Galvan (EDU), Victoria Galan Muros (EDU) and Sonia Araujo (ECO), as well as from Andreas Schleicher (Director, Directorate for Education and Skills (EDU), OECD) and Paulo Santiago (Division Head, Policy Advice and Implementation Division, EDU, OECD).
While the OECD review team benefited greatly from many discussions with a wide range of Mexican stakeholders, as well as documents, data, and the country background report provided by SEP, any errors or misinterpretations in this report are the responsibility of the review team.