Los Cabos

High population growth in the municipality of Los Cabos, specifically in Cabo San Lucas, has resulted in insufficient educational services vis-à-vis demand.  The priority educational need in the municipality, therefore, is school construction, as well as teacher recruitment.  The need for additional preschools is even higher, with a 50% increase in the registration of students in 2004-2005 over the previous year.[1]  The demand for preschools is expected to continue to increase, as 47.4% of the total population of the municipality is job-seeking and working women, and day care is a critical component of their successful hunt for employment.

Addressing the domestic and foreign migration phenomenon is another important issue for the municipality’s educational services, as the 2000 census showed that almost half of the municipality’s population is originally from outside of the state.  There is a clear need for informal education to accommodate the diverse social groups in the region so that people can better face social, economic, cultural, and labor issues.

Another interest is to improve the management of “volunteer fees” that parents contribute at the beginning of the school year to help with expenses to maintain the school.  Not only are the fees mismanaged due to a lack of community oversight, but parents have expressed their discontent because some schools require these contributions in order to register the child and to deliver school reports, when such contributions are supposed to be voluntary.  Because these are now matched by state programs, it is even more important to monitor these investments.

Continuing education for adults is also a main priority for Los Cabos.  Residents want more job training centers to help workers update their skills. Concurrently, residents also want to expand access to courses for high school diplomas or equivalencies as a direct result of the high dropout rate, which is not always driven by monetary concerns.  In fact, a focused approach on technical courses might redirect students toward productive employment, rather than pure academics.  

Even though the Los Cabos municipality is mainly urban, there are several ejidos that comprise the rural areas of the municipality. One hundred percent of ejido leaders said that although they have a piece of land dedicated to a school, the property does not function as a school as it is lacking in teachers, training, materials, and often even a building.