Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The municipal president, Arturo Dávalos Peña, endorsed the commitment that his government maintains for better education in Puerto Vallarta where, hand in hand with the federal and state governments, private initiatives and society, his efforts to address the different needs of schools and provide students with better conditions for learning, continue.

He made this statement during last week's regional meeting for the presentation of the Strategy for Development and Use of Competence and Learning (EDUCA) Jalisco, a strategy proposed by the State Ministry of Education for the improvement of educational results at the primary level.

During the meeting, led by Jalisco Secretary of Education Francisco Ayón López, the Mayor of Puerto Vallarta highlighted the efforts being made in this city in educational matters, where, with the help of the state government, backpacks and school supplies were distributed to 52,000 elementary school children, who were also given uniforms, shoes and school insurance through the municipal program.

"We have been supporting different schools in their basic needs, such as remodeling bathrooms, upgrading electricity, waterproofing, fencing; and the transformers that are required to install air conditioning units in these facilities are pending," said the mayor, who added that the city will continue to move forward on these issues that will result in better conditions at local schools. "We will continue working hand-in-hand so that education in this municipality continues to develop harmoniously and the goals that have been set for each of the schools are achieved," he said.

For his part, Secretary of Education Francisco Ayón indicated that last year the state began to generate a very clear policy on educational quality, covering aspects such as direct contact with teachers and evaluations of their knowledge of the educational materials. He also said that it is no longer enough to evaluate the teachers' knowledge, but mathematical logical thinking must be developed in order to improve the results of primary education the state. These results will be evaluated throughout the country through the PLANEA (National Plan for the Evaluation of Learning) test.

Since EDUCA Jalisco seeks to improve educational outcomes through actions involving the entire educative community, sixth-grade teachers, principals, pedagogical technical advisers, and regional educational supervisors were summoned to the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by the municipal presidents of Cabo Corrientes and Talpa de Allende, Prisciliano Ramírez Gordián and Violeta Becerra Osoria, respectively; the head of DRSE Costa Sierra Occidental, Teresita González Córdova; Lorena Josefina Rodríguez Castro, Director General of Accreditation, Incorporation and Educational Revalidation of the SEJ. In addition, Daniel García Ramírez, coordinator of Regional Delegations of the state agency; Aristeo Anaya Arreola, general director of Primary Education; Laura Caro Romero, Secretary of Organization of Section 47 of the SNTE; and Luis Humberto Siordia Landeros, Secretary of Labor Negotiation of Section 16 of the SNTE, were among the attendees.