Mexico's SEP offers bonus to CNTE for teacher hires, not to end strike

Mexico's Ministry of Public Education (SEP) has offered a special bonus to the National Union of Education Workers (CNTE) to hire new teachers, according to Yenni Pérez Martínez, general secretary of Section 22. The announcement came after a march from the Angel of Independence to the Ministry of the Interior (Segob).

Pérez Martínez clarified that the funds are not meant to end the union's ongoing strike. She explained that the bonus is intended to address a significant shortage of teachers, a problem exacerbated by educational reforms that hinder immediate hiring after retirements. The union estimates a backlog of over 10,000 teaching positions.

"This economic offer is neither for the section, nor for something that has to do with lifting the movement. It has to do with addressing the hiring of teaching staff, because the educational reform does not allow for immediate hiring once colleagues retire, so we have a backlog of more than 10,000 positions," Pérez Martínez stated.

The union leadership will consult its members on how to allocate the bonus, emphasizing that the decision rests with the rank and file. Pérez Martínez pushed back against media speculation that such financial offers are intended to end protests, recalling that similar insinuations were made the previous year. She stressed that the resource would be extraordinary and specifically for hiring personnel.

Meanwhile, a working group was scheduled to convene on June 19 at the Ministry of the Interior, involving Section 7 of Chiapas, Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, SEP Secretary Mario Delgado, and Undersecretary César Yáñez. Delgado expressed a firm commitment to advancing the interests of teachers and the education of children in Chiapas.