Mexican Education Experiment: Cash Rewards for Schooling Children
In the mid-1990s, devaluation of the Mexican peso rendered the nation in the midst of an economic crisis. Originally, the government attempted to provide aid by handouts of tortillas and milk. This proved to be a short-term solution, and one that made no distinction between those who needed aid and those who really did not. Accordingly, the nation started a new pilot program. Using census data, the Mexican government identified the most destitute Mexican families and offered them cash benefits in exchange for keeping their children in school (and seeking preventative healthcare for their children).
The goals of this system were two-fold. First the government wanted to help those who truly needed the assistance. Second, the government wished to provide long-term benefits to its citizens in a way that would help the nation regain its economic footing. The system is an improvement over educational vouchers in that it provides families who see little purpose in schooling their children with a tangible reason to provide their children and education: cash.
While basic education is far from equivalent to technical education, it is a precursor to technical education. Ensuring that the current generation of Mexican children receive a basic education establishes a necessary foundation for these individuals to have any chance of receiving a college education ten to fifteen years from now. So far, the results have been quite promising, including a 13% increase in the enrollment of 7-year-old boys, an 8% increase in the enrollment of 7-year-old girls, and a 24% decrease in high-school drop-out rates for males. As a result, pilot programs based upon the Mexican experiment have been launched in Istanbul, Rio De Janeiro, and New York City.