"Education for everyone" has been a popular slogan since the Mexican revolution over 100 years ago.
But according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, eight out of 100 Mexican children who enroll in elementary school, do not show up for classes.
While barely 50 complete middle school, 20 graduate from high school, 13 get a bachelor's degree, and only two become graduate students.
A study released by UNESCO last year says the children who don't attend school are mostly working. The report reveals that at least 21 percent of all Mexican youth between the ages of seven and 14 drop out of school - that's around 651,000 children. That means Mexico has one of the largest child labor forces in Latin America, second only to Colombia. [...]
One of the ways Mexico has tried to keep children in school is through the so-called Prospera programme. It was launched in 1997 and offers what NGOs call "conditional cash transfers".
The payments are an incentive for parents to keep their children in school and, in exchange, the families have to meet certain requirements and attend workshops including sex education and family planning.
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