The Mexican school year had been due to run across the whole World Cup, only save the final.
The Mexican government has agreed to end the school year around six weeks early due to their co-hosting of the World Cup and the “extraordinary heat wave” forecast.
Schools were scheduled to break up around July 15, but an official release on Thursday confirmed the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) and the education ministries had agreed to bring the date forward to June 5, six days before the tournament’s first match.
The start of the next school year was also announced to fall on August 31, after two weeks of “strengthening learning”.
“This proposal was accepted, though there is no defined schedule yet, as it is important that the children do not miss classes,” Mexico president Sheinbaum said on Friday.
“We are going to wait until it is definitively finalized. But I should mention that it comes from a proposal by the teachers themselves and from several of the states.”
The men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is scheduled to start on June 11 with Mexico facing South Africa in the capital’s Estadio Azteca.
The nation will host 13 games across Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey before the final on July 19 at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
The original school schedule would have run over the majority of the tournament, with both semi-finals taking place in the middle of the day, local time to Mexico.
“With these actions, the educational authorities guarantee compliance with the curriculum and study programs, as well as addressing the needs expressed by the states and fulfilling our country’s international commitments,” the government’s release said on Thursday.
Public education secretary Mario Delgado said on his social media that the meeting prioritised the “well-being and strengthening of the educational community”.
“This modification is due, mainly, to the extraordinary heat wave being experienced these days and which will continue through the months of June and July. Also due to the holding of the World Cup in our country,” he continued.
Mexico has already broken multiple high-temperature records this year, as reported by NASA, with a new March record in the north west’s Hermosillo of 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius). More heatwaves are expected in June and July this year, above the usual range of temperatures around highs of 77-86F (25-30C).
