Officials agreed to allow the school calendar to end on July 15th and resume on August 31st, as originally planned.
Published May 12, 2026
The Mexican government has announced it has scrapped plans to shorten the school year ahead of the World Cup after widespread backlash from parents, think tanks and local governments.
After a flurry of criticism when Education Secretary Mario Delgado announced the school year would end about 40 days early, education and other government officials met Monday to gather input from parents and consider options at a meeting announced by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who expressed skepticism about the shortened proposal.
The meeting agreed to keep the school calendar as originally planned, ending on July 15 and resuming classes on August 31, the Ministry of Education said.
“The idea is to keep the vacation period to six weeks as we have in the past, perhaps with some students starting early and others continuing with their previous schedules,” Sheinbaum said earlier.
“The goal is for it to be a consensus decision,” she said. “Now we need to listen.”
Delgado on Friday unexpectedly announced the end of the school year on June 5, claiming the decision was also based on the heat wave.
Two states rejected the plan before it was ultimately abandoned.
Parents also have doubts about the measure, which they say will cause students to fall behind in their studies, according to the Mexico Evalua think tank.
“This decision will further reduce effective learning time for 23.4 million students,” Mexico Evalua said in its report.
The World Cup, co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, will open on June 11 with Mexico taking on South Africa at home in Mexico City.
Mr. Sheinbaum also guaranteed the necessary “safety conditions” for the Games and the completion of public works projects begun before the Games, in particular the expansion of Azteca Stadium and the Mexico City International Airport.
