Impact of the Food Subsidy on the Academic Performance of Low-Income Primary Education Students in Mexico

The Program of Cocinas Comunitarias in the state of Oaxaca,Mexico benefits children aged 6 to 12 who attend primary education schools in low-income municipalities.It is hoped that this food assistance program will allow children to learn better and develop learning skills.In this way,a significant reduction in the grade failure rates and dropout rates is expected,which will be reflected in a higher graduation efficiency rates.In fact,the contribution of this work consists of a methodology for the analysis of the impact of the food subsidy on the academic performance of low-income primary education students.In this sense,a multivariate model was constructed to analyze the interrelationships between grade failure,dropout,graduation efficiency rates,food subsidy,and the socio-demographic characteristics of the population that attends primary education.The Mexican government expects from this program that the more low-income children complete primary education,the more likely that a higher number of adolescents will complete high school education.This scheme is very important for the country’s half population living in poverty and especially in Oaxaca State which is one of poorest states.

Modeling Violence Among and Against University Students in a Mexican Medium-Sized City

Violence against university students and among them is analyzed on campus and the household as well as the relationships of violence between these two social spaces.The study was undertaken through an anonymous random survey in the two larger public universities in a Mexican medium-sized city.Overall violence and types of violence-verbal,psychological,sexual,and physical-were evaluated by sex and by universities;and the aggressors were identified.A students’concept of violence was built,considering causes of intimate-partner violence,violence in general and ethical judgment on gender violence.Finally,it was measured the relationships between violence on campus and in the household using bivariate statistical analysis.Findings indicate the main aggressors on campus are classmates and professors,whereas in the household are the mother,relatives together with the parents and relatives without the parents.On-campus,there were found statistically significant associations between professors-aggressors and students as victims of violence by sex.In the household,the bivariate analysis confirmed mothers as single aggressors and fathers exerting violence together with relatives against student-children;and direct relationships between on-campus(psychological and sexual violence)and domestic(physical and sexual violence).