Mexico’s National Education System Lost Nearly 289,000 Students During the 2025-2026 School Year
The National Education System recorded a net decline of 288,849 students during the 2025-2026 school year, representing a decrease of 0.84% in total enrollment, as the number of students fell from 34.3 million to 34 million.
The figure, obtained from an update to the Information and Educational Management System of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), was disclosed by the organization Educación con Rumbo, which warned about the severe impact affecting the earliest years of schooling in the country.
The analysis reveals a marked paradox in Mexico’s school system: while higher education continues to expand, the initial levels are experiencing their most drastic contraction.
Preschool and Primary Education Account for Most of the Decline
When only the stages that reported losses are added —early education, preschool, primary, secondary, and upper-secondary education— the accumulated reduction amounts to 529,536 students.
The decline is concentrated almost entirely in early basic education. Preschool and primary education together account for 92.7% of all recorded losses.
In primary education, enrollment fell by 317,862 students, equivalent to a 2.48% decrease, which occurred in 31 of the 32 states, with Coahuila as the only exception.
Meanwhile, preschool lost 173,073 children, marking the most severe percentage decline in basic education, at 4.33%.
Higher Education Records Growth
At the opposite end, higher education added 240,687 students compared with the previous school year, representing an increase of 4.36% and helping to offset the system’s overall enrollment loss.
In this regard, Patricia Ganem, research coordinator at the Education Observatory, said that celebrating the increase in university classrooms is insufficient if the foundation of students’ educational trajectories is weakening. She therefore urged authorities to guarantee conditions for entry and continued enrollment from early childhood.
Educación con Rumbo Demands Accountability From the SEP
Following the publication of the data, Educación con Rumbo urged SEP Secretary Mario Delgado to provide an account and make the factors behind this massive decline transparent, specifying what proportion of the decrease is due to actual school dropout and how much is attributable to demographic trends or population mobility.
Source: excelsior
