tion system. To begin with, when new educational reforms were established in 1970, and a greater effort was made in teacher training at all levels; the vast majority of changes were directed at primary education. The secondary educational system was left untouched for the most part, including the problem that institutions of higher education did not necessarily accept one another's upper-secondary programs as equivalent (Rudolph, 1985, p. 157). Students applying for admission at a different institution from the one in which they took their upper-secondary courses sometimes were required to take additional courses or forced to revalidate those taken to obtain adequate credits.Further, along with the economic hardships imposed upon the citizenry by the country's debt, there is the debilitating population boom the country is experiencing. Since 1970, the population has nearly doubled from 48 million to nearly 85 million. This growth has made it that much more difficult for Mexico to provide housing, jobs, and health care as well as educational opportunities. Teenagers, who comprise most of the secondary-education students, are particularly hard-hit and are the major victims of this boom. More than half of Mexico's population is under nineteen ("Mexico's two biggest challenges," 1988, p. 8). Every year, thousands of young people are forced to drop out of school for one reason or another and enter the work force. They end up finding only poverty, bitterness and despair.In addition, before 1950, most Mexicans lived in rural areas. Today, however, not only do the majority of citizens now live in cities, but Mexico City has become one of the largest cities in the world with over 20 million inhabitants. With so many flowing into the city searching for a better life, thousands are forced to live in cardboard or plastic huts. Along with the high rate of poverty and homelessness, Mexico City also has some of the world's most polluted ai...
