Article 3 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

Every person has the right to education. The State —Federation, States, Mexico City and Municipalities— shall provide and guarantee initial, preschool, primary, secondary, upper secondary and higher education. Initial, preschool, primary and secondary education make up basic education; this and upper secondary shall be obligatory, higher education shall be so under the terms of section X of this article. Initial education is a right of children and it shall be the responsibility of the State to raise awareness about its importance.

The direction of education corresponds to the State; that provided by it, in addition to being obligatory, shall be universal, inclusive, public, free of charge and secular.

Third paragraph. Repealed.

Education shall be based on the unrestricted respect for the dignity of persons, with a focus on human rights and substantive equality. It shall tend to harmoniously develop all the faculties of the human being and shall foster in him, at the same time, love for the Homeland, respect for all rights, freedoms, the culture of peace and the awareness of international solidarity, in independence and justice; it shall promote honesty, values and the continuous improvement of the teaching-learning process.

The State shall prioritize the best interest of girls, boys, adolescents and youths in the access, permanence and participation in educational services.

Teachers are fundamental agents of the educational process and, therefore, their contribution to social transformation is recognized. They shall have the right to access an integral system of training, capacity-building and updating, informed by diagnostic evaluations, to fulfill the objectives and purposes of the National Educational System.

The law shall establish the provisions of the System for the Career of Teachers in their teaching, managerial or supervisory functions. The Federation shall be responsible for its direction and, in coordination with the states (federal entities), its implementation, in accordance with the criteria of education provided in this article.

The admission, promotion and recognition of the personnel that exercises the teaching, managerial or supervisory function shall be carried out through selection processes in which the applicants participate under equal conditions and established in the law provided in the previous paragraph, which shall be public, transparent, equitable and impartial and shall consider the knowledge, aptitudes and experience necessary for the learning and integral development of the students. Appointments derived from these processes shall only be granted under the terms of said law. The provisions of this paragraph shall in no case affect the permanence of teachers in service. The institutions referred to in section VII of this article shall not be subject to these provisions.

The State shall strengthen the public institutions of teacher training, especially the normal schools, under the terms provided by law.

Educational establishments constitute a fundamental space for the teaching-learning process. The State shall guarantee that the didactic materials, the educational infrastructure, its maintenance and the conditions of the environment are suitable and contribute to the purposes of education.

In order to comply with the provisions of section II of this article, the Federal Executive shall determine the guiding principles and objectives of initial education, as well as the plans and programs of study of basic and normal education throughout the Republic; for such purpose, it shall consider the opinion of the governments of the states (federal entities) and of diverse social actors involved in education, as well as the content of the educational projects and programs that contemplate the regional and local realities and contexts.

The plans and programs of study shall have a gender perspective and an integral orientation, for which the knowledge of sciences and humanities shall be included: the teaching of mathematics, reading and writing, literacy, history, geography, civics, philosophy, technology, innovation, the Indigenous languages of our country, foreign languages, physical education, sports, the arts, especially music, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, sexual and reproductive education, care for the environment, the protection of animals, among others.

I.Guaranteed by article 24 the freedom of beliefs, said education shall be secular and, therefore, shall remain completely alien to any religious doctrine;

II.The criterion that shall guide that education shall be based on the results of scientific progress, shall fight against ignorance and its effects, servitude, fanaticism and prejudice.

Additionally:

a)It shall be democratic, considering democracy not only as a legal structure and a political regime, but as a system of life founded on the constant economic, social and cultural improvement of the people;

b)It shall be national, insofar as —without hostilities or exclusivisms— it shall attend to the understanding of our problems, the use of our resources, the defense of our political independence, the assurance of our economic independence and the continuity and increase of our culture;

c)It shall contribute to the best human coexistence, in order to strengthen the appreciation and respect for nature, cultural diversity, the dignity of the person, the integrity of the families, the conviction of the general interest of society, the ideals of fraternity and equality of rights of all, avoiding the privileges of races, of religion, of groups, of sexes or of individuals;

d)Repealed.

e)It shall be equitable, for which the State shall implement measures that favor the full exercise of the right to education of persons and combat the socioeconomic, regional and gender inequalities in the access, transit and permanence in educational services.

In the basic education schools of high marginalization, actions that improve the living conditions of the students shall be promoted, with emphasis on those of a food-related nature. Likewise, students in social vulnerability shall be supported, through the establishment of inclusive and cross-cutting policies.

In education for adults, strategies shall be applied that ensure their right to enter the educational institutions in their different types and modalities.

In the Indigenous peoples and communities, plurilingual and intercultural education based on respect, promotion and preservation of the historical and cultural patrimony shall be provided;

f)It shall be inclusive, by taking into account the diverse capacities, circumstances and needs of the students. Based on the principle of accessibility, reasonable adjustments shall be made and specific measures shall be implemented with the objective of eliminating the barriers to learning and participation;

g)It shall be intercultural, by promoting harmonious coexistence between persons and communities for respect and recognition of their differences and rights, within a framework of social inclusion;

h)It shall be integral, shall educate for life, with the object of developing in persons cognitive, socioemotional and physical capacities that allow them to attain their well-being, and

i)It shall be of excellence, understood as the constant integral improvement that promotes the maximum learning achievement of the students, for the development of their critical thinking and the strengthening of the ties between school and community;

III.Repealed.

IV.All education that the State provides shall be free of charge;

V.Every person has the right to enjoy the benefits of the development of science and technological innovation. The State shall support scientific, humanistic and technological research and innovation, and shall guarantee open access to the information that derives from it, for which it must provide sufficient resources and stimuli, in accordance with the bases of coordination, linkage and participation that the laws on the matter establish; it shall also encourage the strengthening and dissemination of our culture;

VI.Private individuals may provide education in all its types and modalities. Under the terms established by law, the State shall grant and withdraw the recognition of official validity to the studies carried out in private establishments. In the case of initial, preschool, primary, secondary and normal education, private individuals must:

a)Provide education in adherence to the same purposes and criteria established in the fourth paragraph, and section II, as well as comply with the plans and programs referred to in the eleventh and twelfth paragraphs, and

b)Previously obtain, in each case, the express authorization of the public power, under the terms established by law;

VII.The universities and the other institutions of higher education to which the law grants autonomy shall have the faculty and the responsibility to govern themselves; they shall carry out their purposes of educating, researching and disseminating culture in accordance with the principles of this article, respecting the freedom of teaching and research and of free examination and discussion of ideas; they shall determine their plans and programs; they shall set the terms of admission, promotion and permanence of their academic personnel; and they shall administer their patrimony. The labor relations, both of the academic and the administrative personnel, shall be governed by Subsection A of article 123 of this Constitution, under the terms and with the modalities established by the Federal Labor Law in accordance with the characteristics proper to special work, so that they accord with the autonomy, the freedom of teaching and research and the purposes of the institutions to which this section refers;

VIII.The Congress of the Union, with the purpose of unifying and coordinating education throughout the Republic, shall issue the necessary laws, destined to distribute the social educational function among the Federation, the states (federal entities) and the Municipalities, to set the economic contributions corresponding to that public service and to indicate the sanctions applicable to the officials who do not comply or do not make comply with the relative provisions, the same as all those who infringe them;

IX.Repealed

X.The obligatoriness of higher education corresponds to the State. The federal and local authorities shall establish policies to foster inclusion, permanence and continuity, under the terms that the law indicates. Likewise, they shall provide means of access to this type of education for persons who comply with the requirements set by the public institutions.