Public Education Secretary Aurelio Nuño Mayer reported that private and public elementary and secondary schools will be closed until Monday September 25 in Mexico City and the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala.
In an interview with the morning program, Despierta con Loret, he indicated that there are classes in Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Chiapas, except in the cases of schools that remain damaged, while in the State of Mexico, students would return to classes this Friday depending on the conditions of the schools.
He pointed out that in the case of universities that do not depend on the Public Education Secretariat (SEP), the recommendations are to follow the same guidelines as state schools, although the decision is ultimately up to the institutions themselves.
Nuño Mayer said that there are 212 sites with damages, of which in 16 are severe. With the help of experts, together with insurance agents, many sites should be quickly fixed and in use again.
Nuño Mayer explained that there are two options for addressing the needs of children without schools. One is to relocate students to facilities with space and infrastructure to serve them for a few months, and the other alternative is to build temporary classrooms, which takes between two or three weeks, depending on the size. It is likely that this would be the case in Mexico City, Puebla, Morelos and other affected states.
He said that there is up to 1.8 billion pesos covered by insurance but that access to the resources from the Fund for Natural Disasters (Fonden) covering the claims may also be granted.
In the case of the Enrique Rébsamen school, where over 20 teachers and students have and many are still missing, Nuño Mayer stressed the importance of making contact with parents or relatives of these missing children.