Without competitiveness, the quality of public services, infrastructure and productivity are not promoted to improve well-being. Seek the conditions for talent to develop, understood as the qualified human capital of a country, state, region or city, not only encourages greater economic and social development, but also seeks greater development from different perspectives. In our country there are great areas of opportunity in this regard. For the training of talent, education is the fundamental piece, since it establishes the knowledge, aptitudes and abilities of people.
In the context of the pandemic, educational problems, such as the gaps in years of study, they got worse. For example, on average a person in Mexico City studies 11 years, equivalent to the second year of high school, while in Chiapas they study 7.4 years, that is, they have incomplete high school knowledge. In addition to this, new problems arose such as coverage, learning, online classes and the evaluation of educational policy in general terms.
The city is the first line of response to public problems. According to IMCO’s Urban Competitiveness Index (ICU) 2021, educational coverage decreased on average in all cities regardless of their population size. Although the average coverage of 82% has not been exceeded, the pandemic caused a drop below 76%.
The access to education in cities it was visibly reduced. School enrollment showed a 3.8% drop in cities with more than one million inhabitants according to data from the Ministry of Public Education, that is, 374,966 fewer girls and boys compared to 2019. Although in cities with less than 250,000 inhabitants, the fall was less, it represented 2% fewer students.
As for the effects on learning, today there are no official data. The National Plan for the Assessment of Learning (Plan) tests were suspended in 2020 and the next application date is unknown. However perfect it may be, if its application continues, this test would allow us to know the effects that the pandemic had on the student skills, and their abilities to perform mathematical calculations or read texts, understand them, and distinguish between facts and opinions. Knowing the quality of talent in Mexican cities is essential to design better educational policies.
The next steps that Mexican cities should take to become talent engines They are the implementation of periodic evaluations of learning and adjusting the study plans according to the characteristics and vocation of each city and its labor market.
The ICU 2021 shows which are the cities with certain vocations or advantages to be attractive to talent. Cities such as Toluca, Tepic and Los Mochis are urban areas with a high percentage of people 25 years of age or older with technical or higher education, while the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey excels in labor issues, and the Valley of Mexico and Querétaro in issues of innovation and technology.
Cities are the ideal space to achieve maximum coordination and effectiveness of public policies. All levels of government and concurrent educational faculties converge in cities. To have more prosperous cities and inclusive, we need planning and coordination between governments that generate, attract and retain talent.
* The author is coordinator of evaluation and analysis of IMCO (@IvaniaMazari)
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx