This Monday, February 28, 2022, the Governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda welcomed students as they returned to in-person classes. More than 1 million students, of all educational levels, came back to school in Baja California.

The Governor highlighted that the back-to-school process was thanks to the effort and dedication of boys, girl, teenagers, parents, and all teachers everywhere. She also thanked union leaders and the authorities for their work in applying health measures and distance-learning protocols.

The Governor presided over the ceremony in primary school ”Miguel Alemán, located in Colonia Industrial, in Mexicali. In her message, she informed Baja Californian society that more than 1 million of students were coming back to in-person classes this Monday. Of these, 665,000 belong to public basic education and 115,000 to private basic education, 135,00 belong to secondary education, and 131,000 belong to higher education.

Marina del Pilar stated:

I thank the mothers and the fathers that supported us from home. We transformed houses in schools, but nothing can substitute a classroom. My eternal gratitude as well to all teachers because I saw their effort in maintaining a high level of quality in education and giving students the attention they needed.

Despite this, the Governor underscored the importance of continuing applying health measures against Covid-19 because, though the state is under the green traffic light and it is the state with the greatest progress with vaccinations, “we shouldn’t lower our guard” in the pandemic struggle, for it is still not over.

Marina del Pilar also added:

Today is a historic day for Baja California. I say hello to all of you with a lot affection and respect. This has all been a tremendous effort by Baja Californian society, including the educational authorities and the teacher’s union. I have committed myself to comply with the agreements and legitimate requests of the Baja Californian union. As Governor, I will be the first to push to make these agreements possible.

For his part, the Secretary of Health of Baja California, Adrián Medina Amarillas, emphasized the months of preparation in schools and recognized Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda for always allocating the necessary resources to fight against the pandemic such as for tests and acquiring medications.

In this ceremony, Mexicali Mayor, Norma Bustamante Martínez; Baja California’s Subsecretary of Basic Education,Dulce María Jáuregui Santillán; President Representative of the Education Commission of State Congress, Dunnia Montserrat Murillo López; Ampelio Íñiguez, General Secretary of Section 37 of the National Union of Workers of Education (SNTE); Juan Enrique Villanueva Villa, General Secretary of Section 2 of the National Union of Workers of Education (SNTE); Jesús Salvador Rubio Núñez, General Secretary of "SIETE BC"; Héctor Lara, General Secretary of "SETE BC"; Agustín Morales, Secretary of the Union of Workers of Education; Guadalupe Acuña, Head of Education Linking in Baja California and fourth grade “Miguel Alemán” primary school student, Romina Robles Pérez were all present at the event.

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