In my school, we had to pay 'las cuotas'. Cuota is an amount of money, about 50 or 70 pesos, given each month. Cuotas are supposedly not mandatory, they weren't mandatory in my school. However, I knew some people in other schools who were afraid of not paying cuotas because they were told that if they didn't pay, they wouldn't receive any official paper needed for the inscription. Besides the cuotas, we also needed to pay some extra money in December and April because of the celebrations (the Christmas and Día del Niño party). Besides, we had to pay for the woman who watched the school entrance's wage: 10 pesos per child. Nevertheless, when the woman's children graduated, she quit working there and the school never hired someone else to watch the entrance. My sister even told me that once, the teacher didn't arrive, and about half of her class left the school. Moreover, we had to pay 'Escuelas de Calidad', to improve the school. Personally, I never saw any change. Well, now they built a roof above the basketball courts, and they fixed the restrooms and the fences.
The building was actually pretty big and old; it has a basketball court, a football field, tiers, about 17 classrooms, two pairs of restrooms, the library, the computer center, la tiendita, the principal's office and janitor's room. However, the building lacked many things. For example, in the computer center, there are only 15 computers; one is for the teachers, and the rest for the students. When I was in elementary school, only 13 computers were available since one didn't work at all, but other computers didn't have keyboard or CPU. And we didn't have a computer class, we only were taken there to play in the Internet and draw in Paint. Some teachers taught students how to use Word, or Microsoft Encarta. The football field was enormous. It was like a sandy, battlefield, kind of a dessert to me. It was the best part to play, as well as a part of the school that we used to call 'la selva', because it had a pretty tall tree and many other little trees. It was a green area. But, the tall tree fell down and 'la selva' became boring. The library was excellent; it had many books, either given by SEC or books we gave to school. It was a comfortable place, except for a portrait of Benito Juárez, who supposedly watched you, and had three eyes when no one was around. Also, some classrooms were well-equiped and had Enciclomedia that is an Smartboard. Ah, this part is pretty disturbing: La tiendita, that was attended by a man and a woman. The man sold candies and junk food, while the woman sold tacos, pizza and food. But, here is the nasty part: They NEVER washed their hands and received the money with the same hands that delivered the food. They never wore a plastic bag or something like that. Once, a kid asked for a taco and he gave her a coin, but the coin fell into the meat's pan. And she just introduced her hand into the pan, got the coin out, and kept serving the food. Also, she always took her baby and when the baby was hungry or dirty, she just closed the tiendita, but never went to the restroom. On the other hand, 'Desayunos Escolares' were a blessing. When the school started to serve hot, just prepared breakfats, it was extremely good for those children who used to wait until 10 am to eat a taco. Even thought the breakfast was served from 7 am to 9 am, they were excellent. They served hot cakes, molletes, oats, cereal, arroz con leche, and others. Also, they just costed 1 peso, while a taco costed about 6 pesos.
Finally, I want to write about the principal. She was very exaggerated; my sister told me that when she visted her classroom, she criticized everything about them and told them that they were the worst group of all the school(she used to tell that to every group). Also, when my sister was in her last year, the principal made a escort with the people who had the best grades, she obligated them to practice like two or three hours during classes, and she gave special attention to the daughter of a teacher. Most of the time, she was complaining about us and used to visit each classroom and ask for money to buy an air conditioner or to paint the classrooms. She never did. Well, she fixed some things in the school only when 'an important person' was coming, such as the mayor or someone from SEC or SEP. She really didn't care about missing classes because she always wanted to meet the teachers during classes. Sometimes, her meetings lasted from 10 am to 11 am (or later). That is a huge problem in public education: Teachers do not worry if students lose classes. When there was a huge event, they took us. Sometimes, it took one day. Also, when the kermess was coming, some students lost classes because they needed to practice what they would perform. It also took about one day. Some teachers did not come sometimes, and the principal never send other person to take care of the group, we just stayed fooling around.
But, after all, I keep good memories. Attending public school made me appreciate more private education.
The building was actually pretty big and old; it has a basketball court, a football field, tiers, about 17 classrooms, two pairs of restrooms, the library, the computer center, la tiendita, the principal's office and janitor's room. However, the building lacked many things. For example, in the computer center, there are only 15 computers; one is for the teachers, and the rest for the students. When I was in elementary school, only 13 computers were available since one didn't work at all, but other computers didn't have keyboard or CPU. And we didn't have a computer class, we only were taken there to play in the Internet and draw in Paint. Some teachers taught students how to use Word, or Microsoft Encarta. The football field was enormous. It was like a sandy, battlefield, kind of a dessert to me. It was the best part to play, as well as a part of the school that we used to call 'la selva', because it had a pretty tall tree and many other little trees. It was a green area. But, the tall tree fell down and 'la selva' became boring. The library was excellent; it had many books, either given by SEC or books we gave to school. It was a comfortable place, except for a portrait of Benito Juárez, who supposedly watched you, and had three eyes when no one was around. Also, some classrooms were well-equiped and had Enciclomedia that is an Smartboard. Ah, this part is pretty disturbing: La tiendita, that was attended by a man and a woman. The man sold candies and junk food, while the woman sold tacos, pizza and food. But, here is the nasty part: They NEVER washed their hands and received the money with the same hands that delivered the food. They never wore a plastic bag or something like that. Once, a kid asked for a taco and he gave her a coin, but the coin fell into the meat's pan. And she just introduced her hand into the pan, got the coin out, and kept serving the food. Also, she always took her baby and when the baby was hungry or dirty, she just closed the tiendita, but never went to the restroom. On the other hand, 'Desayunos Escolares' were a blessing. When the school started to serve hot, just prepared breakfats, it was extremely good for those children who used to wait until 10 am to eat a taco. Even thought the breakfast was served from 7 am to 9 am, they were excellent. They served hot cakes, molletes, oats, cereal, arroz con leche, and others. Also, they just costed 1 peso, while a taco costed about 6 pesos.
Finally, I want to write about the principal. She was very exaggerated; my sister told me that when she visted her classroom, she criticized everything about them and told them that they were the worst group of all the school(she used to tell that to every group). Also, when my sister was in her last year, the principal made a escort with the people who had the best grades, she obligated them to practice like two or three hours during classes, and she gave special attention to the daughter of a teacher. Most of the time, she was complaining about us and used to visit each classroom and ask for money to buy an air conditioner or to paint the classrooms. She never did. Well, she fixed some things in the school only when 'an important person' was coming, such as the mayor or someone from SEC or SEP. She really didn't care about missing classes because she always wanted to meet the teachers during classes. Sometimes, her meetings lasted from 10 am to 11 am (or later). That is a huge problem in public education: Teachers do not worry if students lose classes. When there was a huge event, they took us. Sometimes, it took one day. Also, when the kermess was coming, some students lost classes because they needed to practice what they would perform. It also took about one day. Some teachers did not come sometimes, and the principal never send other person to take care of the group, we just stayed fooling around.
But, after all, I keep good memories. Attending public school made me appreciate more private education.
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