Thank You, Teacher

With around 150 museums, Mexico City has more museums than any other city in the world except London.  Even after all the visits that I have made here, I still have not visited them all... and, frankly, there are some that do not interest me at all.

Last Thursday, I went downtown to the Historic Center and visited one that I had not seen, even though it is centrally located on a pedestrian side street across from the National Palace.  It is the "UNAM Today Museum".  The initials UNAM stand for "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México" (National Autonomous University of Mexico).  The museum is located in this old building.

It was here in 1551 that the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was established.  It was the predecessor of today's National University of Mexico, making UNAM arguably the oldest university in the Americas (founded 85 years before Harvard).  UNAM is ranked as the best university in Mexico, one of the best in Latin America, and has been ranked as the 122nd best in the entire world.

To be honest, there is not much to see in this small museum, although on the second floor there was a special exhibit which, as a retired teacher, I found interesting.  It was a tribute to the teachers of Mexico.  As you climbed the stairs there was this message...

"If you are able to read this, a teacher taught it to you."

It reminds me of the bumper stickers I used to see.  

"If you can read this, thank a teacher."

The exhibit contains historic photos from the first half of the 20th century.

There were also some showcases containing old elementary school textbooks.

These two men played a crucial role in the development of the modern Mexican educational system.

At the beginning of the 20th century the majority of Mexicans were illiterate.  A major goal of the government after the Mexican Revolution was to extend free public schooling to all.  José Vasconcelos (left), rector of the National University of Mexico, was named first Secretary of Public Education in 1920.  Jaime Torres Bodet was Secretary of Public Education in the 1940s.  They both spearheaded major literacy campaigns and oversaw the construction of schools in rural areas that had none previously.  Today the literacy rate in Mexico stands at around 95%.  However, there are still around 4.5 Mexicans who cannot read or write.

At the end of the exhibit was a large blackboard on which visitors could write comments.  I wrote, "Retired teacher from the U.S. salutes the Mexican teachers."