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by Ambassador Antonio O. Garza, Jr.
Published in Spanish by Mexican daily El Universal
“International Education Week” is celebrated around the world every year in November. It’s not a holiday, of course; there are no education-week trees or pastries to mark this important event. Instead, it provides an opportunity to think about the vital importance education plays in our lives and, more importantly, in the lives of our children. Looking at some important facts and statistics linking education and well-being, I have concluded that books are the best gift children can receive this Christmas.
Education is highly valued in the United States. Our society is very mobile, and many American families choose to live in a particular town or city often on the basis of the quality of education these jurisdictions offer. College graduates with the highest marks tend to get the best jobs. Education is considered the great equalizer in American society, filling the gaps created by poverty and other disadvantages.
The value of an American university degree has not been lost on foreign nationals. More international students seek admission to our schools over the academic institutions of any other country. Recognizing the attraction our system of education offers, the United States government has sponsored the participation of 800,000 international students in academic exchange programs over the past several decades. Last year, 13,063 Mexican students attended U.S. universities, and, in an average year, millions of young people of Mexican descent study in U.S. primary and secondary schools.
Statistics show that the more education a person receives, the greater his or her income is likely to be. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true: under-educated workers are at a clear disadvantage in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Simply put, these workers have seen their wages fall over the past several years, and the long-term outlook is not encouraging.
A recent study by two Harvard University economists, George Borjas and Lawrence Katz, cites the disadvantages under-educated Mexican immigrants face in the United States. Noting that 7 percent of the overall U.S. workforce lacks a high-school diploma, Borjas and Katz report that 57 percent of Mexican women immigrants and 63 percent of Mexican male immigrants failed to finish high school. Though they earn more in the United States than in their native Mexico, these new arrivals were generally concentrated in low-wage jobs, earning 33 percent less than the average American woman and 41 percent less than the average American man.
Asian immigrants to the United States are among America’s top earners, largely because they arrive with or quickly obtain a higher level of education. Asian immigration has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, and the 2000 U.S. Census indicates that 80 percent of the Asian community possessed a high-school diploma. In addition, 44 percent of Asians possessed university degrees, in comparison to the 24 percent rate for the overall U.S. population. A recent analysis of the census report also showed that when compared to the general U.S. population, Asians were likelier to be professionals or managers, with a higher-than-average income.
The United States has a number of programs in place to facilitate educational exchanges with our Mexican partners. For example, since 1991, the U.S.-Mexico Commission on Educational and Cultural Exchange Fullbright-Garcia Robles (COMEXUS) has sponsored the studies of about 3,000 Mexican and American professors and students. In addition, through our “Training, Internships, Education, and Scholarships” (TIES) program, we have established 45 partnerships between U.S. and Mexican universities, which bring together faculties from both countries to work together on common goals, and permit hundreds of Mexican students to attend our colleges each year. The Institute for Educational Exchange is very active in promoting educational exchanges between our countries, which have been popular with the people of the United States for generations.
Much more needs to be done to ensure that Mexicans receive the education they deserve. President Bush has made education an Administration priority, and I am convinced that the government of President Fox is committed to improving opportunities for advancement through study. I believe that further integration between our two countries will raise education levels on both sides of our common border, and improve living standards for our two peoples.
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