December 19, 2018 · 7:00 am

The cost of schooling in Mexico

It goes without saying that private schools are more expensive than public schools in Mexico. However, that doesn’t mean that public education is free.

Enrolling

Private schools require a downpayment called inscripción ( enrollment) at the beginning of the school year. It’s usually the equivalent of a month’s school fee. This holds your child’s place at the school. Should you decide not to have your child attend, you won’t get the inscripción fee returned.

Public schools require un cooperación voluntaria (voluntary donation) which can be as much as $500 pesos. Don’t be mislead by the name. It is not voluntary. You will not be able to enroll your child if you don’t have the bank statement showing you made the donation.

School fees

Private schools require a colegiatura (school fee) every month for 12 months. At schools that charge only 10 or 11 months of fees, the initial enrollment fee is doubled. The school sets this fee and the upper limit can be quite high. Schools in our area typically charge upwards of $2,000 per month. Schools in urban areas can have a colegiatura of more than $4,000 pesos.  

If you have more than one child enrolled in the same school, the school may give a discount to the second child. If you are a teacher at the school, you may also receive a discount. Each school is required to provide a certain number of becas (scholarships). It pays to inquire about those as well.

Public schools do not require a monthly payment. However, there may be additional fees for talleres (workshops) or elective courses. Public schools also give out becas. Our son had a becas of $400 pesos each semester for two years. It really helped out!

Uniforms

Both private and public schools require the purchase of at least 2 different uniforms. The uniforme diario consists of slacks, shirt, vest or sweater with school insignia for boys and a skirt or jumper, blouse, and sweater or vest with school insignia for girls. Both boys and girls must have appropriate dress shoes. Girls must wear medias (long socks) rather than mallas (stockings) unless there is extremely cold weather. The uniforme deportivo is the same for boys and girls, sweatpants, polo shirt and jacket with school insignia. These are only to be worn on days when the class is scheduled for P.E.

Uniforms can be pricey. Unless you plan on washing every evening, you’ll need to buy at least 2 complete uniforms at the beginning of the school year. Private schools often have the uniforms available for purchase at the school itself. Public school uniforms are bought where school uniforms are sold. You’ll be told at enrollment where to go to purchase them.

School uniform inspection is a daily event in some schools. Wearing a dirty or improper uniform may result in your child not being admitted to the school or sent home early. Make sure to bordar (embroider) your child’s name on the uniform or at the very least write his or her name on the tag. Sweaters and jackets are often lost and reclaimed by new owners without this identifying mark. There are places that offer embroidery service. Look for signs that say “se bordan nombres.”

Books

While both private and public schools are required to follow the SEP mandated curriculum, private schools add more books to the roster. It’s rare that the public schools use any books other than the free national textbooks, although not unheard of. In that case, there is a fee for any extra books. Private schools can have book lists of more than $3000 pesos. The English book set that I used as a teacher at the last private school I worked at cost $800 for a student book, workbook, and supplemental book.

Books must be paid for at the beginning of the school year. They are usually available at the school, however occasionally the school didn’t receive all the books and you’ll need to hunt them down at the libraría. With the other school fees, sometimes parents wait to purchase the books. However, the teacher typically starts using the textbooks on the second day of classes and the child without a book will quickly fall behind.

All books are paperback and must be covered in clear plastic contact paper. This process is called forrar and let me tell you, it’s anything but fun. Make sure to write your child’s name on the front cover of the book before you forrar. There are enterprising ladies who offer this service during the months of August and September. Look for signs that say “se forran libros.” 

School supplies

Public preschool list

When you enroll your child, ask for the lista de útiles escolares (school supply list). This is the list of notebooks, required number of pencils, and additional material your child will need for class. It will also include things like a document folder, a ream of copy paper, whiteboard markers or chalk, manila folders, pens and other items that are for the teacher. Each school will have a different list of required items. Private schools require more items than public schools. Make sure all notebooks, dictionaries, and pencils have your child’s name on them although that still doesn’t prevent loss or theft entirely.

Public elementary school list

Notebooks are specifically described, so make sure you get both the right type and color. There’s a lot to choose from and it can be overwhelming.

Head to the papelería with your list. It’s easiest to just hand the whole list to the person behind the counter and buy everything at the same place. Many papelerías offer discounts if you get everything from their store.

The papelería will become your home away from home during the school year. Homework assignments will require all sorts of printed worksheets, maps, poster board, paint, styrofoam balls and more. When in doubt of exactly what your child needs, just ask the person working there.

Lunches

Not too long ago, SEP mandated that parents would no longer be permitted to drop off lunch for their children at the lunchtime. That hasn’t entirely prevented mothers and grandmothers from lurking at the gate and tossing a bagged lunch over the wall to their little ones.

Otherwise, you can send a packed lunch with your child in the morning or give them money to buy food available for sale. Most lunches cost about $20 or so. Keep in mind that there is ALWAYS a huge line. Lunch and recess together are no longer than 30 minutes. So if your child is waiting in line 10 minutes, then eating for another 10, he or she may only have 10 minutes for recreational activities.

Events

School events can be expensive. Schools almost always have events to commemorate Independence Day, Day of the Dead, Revolution Day, Christmas, Children’s Day, Mother’s Day, Teacher’s Day, and Father’s Day. The cost associated with these events varies from school to school with public schools requesting fewer donaciones (donations) than private schools. Depending on the event, you may be required to buy a special outfit for your darling child to perform at school or march in a parade, donate food items for a school-wide kermes (fundraiser) or alter, or participate/attend certain events yourself.

Field trips are rare at public schools but expect at least one trip during the school year with private schools. Transportation, food, lodging, entrance fees, and souvenirs are things you should be prepared to pay for.

Cleaning

Public schools have a required cleaning fund and cleaning rotation. You or your child will be expected to stay after school for a week every few months (depending on the number of students) and clean the classroom, public areas, and bathrooms. This is called aseo (cleaning). Yep. At the beginning of the year, the materials list will include a certain number of rolls of toilet paper and a quantity of cleaning supplies. Private schools typically hire a cleaning person for this function, although they may still require toilet paper or tissue donations.

Graduation

Every level of education has a graduation ceremony which requires a special outfit, certain fees and a mandatory event with optional misa (mass). Fortunately, here you can parcel the expenses out to a variety of madrinas/padrinos (godparents). Just keep in mind that if you are asked to be a madrina/padrino of a graduation, you’ll be expected to pay for a section of these expenses.

And that’s what to expect when your child attends school in Mexico.

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December 17, 2018 · 1:01 pm

Failing at your own business–Tour descriptions

Facebook has been useful in finding several of the income generating opportunities I’ve taken advantage of in the past. (Textbook Video Star). And recently, it came through again.

I happened to see a message about a company looking for someone to write tour descriptions for a cruise line and thought “I bet I can do that.” So I contacted the poster. She said the person should be living in Mexico, have a Paypal account and be able to create interesting text.  And again I thought “I can do that.”

She sent me a sample via email and then asked me to write a description of a tour the company sponsored using links to similar write-ups and a bit of online internet research along with the itinerary. I did well enough that she sent my sample to the business owner and in a few days, I was officially hired.

Wow

The pay is nominal at $100 per article, but it sure beats grading essays. There has been a bit of a learning curve. I’ve had to rewrite two of the articles I submitted so far, but again, it sure beats writing essays. It’s variable, some days I have 4 articles, other days, nothing, but, yes again, it sure beats essays.

So far I’ve enjoyed doing research on the attractions each trip visits, although there are some trips I plan on NEVER going on. There was that one that stopped at an active volcano site in Italy where in 2017 an 11-year-old boy slid into a crevice and both his parents died trying to save him, leaving his 7-year-old brother as the only survivor. What a horrible vacation! Needless to say, that wasn’t included in the tour description.

Pay is transferred to my Paypal account twice a month. I completed 7 articles in the first pay period which ended up being about $670 pesos after Paypal deducted its fees.

So while I won’t become a millionaire doing these write-ups, it will pay the internet bill for the month with a little left over for some tacos de tripa.

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December 14, 2018 · 7:03 am

Failing at your own business–Virtual Assistant

Since my internet had been temperamental at best, I decided to try and branch out and find something that didn’t necessarily need a stable connection for hours at a time. So I thought I’d try being a virtual assistant. As a declaimer, even after the experience I’m about to relate, I think becoming a virtual assistant is a viable income opportunity for someone living in Mexico. It just didn’t work out so well for me.

One of my Facebook contacts was interested in setting up a course through Coursera and needed some virtual assistance to get the ball rolling. She let me set my own price. I did a bit of research and came up with a figure of $15 USD per hour flat rate. Although I considered pricing per job, i.e. $X for social media work, $X for proofreading, etc. I didn’t really know how to set those prices. My new boss agreed to my fee of $15 per hour. We agreed on the submission of my hours at the end of each month with net 15 (she would pay interest if the bill was not paid after 15 days of submission).

My first order of business was to look over the website and suggest edits or improvements. Then I began working on a project that would become a published text once completed. Initially, I was overwhelmed, not with the work, but with how the tasks were being assigned. Or rather the disconnect between what my boss wanted to be done and how it was labeled in the task assignment option in Asana. Once that was more organized, things moved along at a brisker pace.

At the end of August, I turned in my invoice requesting payment for the little bit of work I did in July and the much more substantial workload I did in August. My boss said that payment would be deferred until the course was launched. That was a little disappointing, but ok.

My boss, her partner, and I had weekly progress check meetings via Google Hangouts.  Priority tasks were determined for the following week and analytics were well, analyzed. Things seemed to be moving along quite well.

The course was launched in the middle of September and the focus became marketing for a time. I designed a template for questions about the course for the Facebook group. I researched other groups where marketing might take place. I contacted potential affiliates. I even became an affiliate myself and promoted the course on my own time.

I submitted an invoice for work completed in September. Again, my payment would have to be deferred until such time as the course generated a profit. Well, I was still working at my other job, so I’d survive.

The focus again changed to the production of the next course in the series. I listened to a series of interviews, highlighted and time stamped relevant information. I researched and wrote the first two lessons.

Then I had some internet issues at the beginning of October, so wasn’t able to work on the course as much as I would have liked. At the first virtual meeting, I again asked about my pay. I was in need of some cash immediately. In response, my boss told me to cease work immediately on the course since she couldn’t pay me.

I was annoyed. The next day, she removed me from the production channel on Slack, canceled my collaboration status on Coursera and eliminated any tasks that still needed to be done on Asana. She also changed me from administrator to moderator in the Facebook group.

I sat and stewed on this problem. She was in Canada, her partner was in the U.S. and I was in Mexico. What sort of bargaining position was I in? And how true was the cry of poverty if a series of Facebook ads were launched immediately after I was dismissed? Facebook ads aren’t cheap by any means.

I decided to write a polite collection letter. I had it sent registered mail to Canada. Then I sent it as a message to every single social media site I could find either partner on. This included Linkedin, Facebook, Slack, Asana, and direct email. I requested payment in full of the current month’s balance and the 3 previous months overdue payments.

I was underwhelmed with her response. She sent an email saying that she was sorry that I was frustrated with the situation. She also sent $7.25 that was the affiliate commission I earned for the month of September. There was a list of excuses, the course hadn’t generated enough money to pay me yet, the U.S. credit card she had applied for hadn’t come through, she hadn’t been able to set up her bank to send and receive payments through Stripe (even though I suggested she send the money via Paypal). There was no mention as to when she would be able to pay me the $672 still owed.

Although there is some effort on behalf of freelancers to avoid non-payment of services, it apparently happens quite often.  New York City has established the “Freelance isn’t Free” Act requiring clients to pay freelancers in full for work worth $800 USD by the agreed upon date or within 30 days of task completion. While commendable, since none of the parties involved are NYC residents, this wouldn’t be helpful in my case.

So my next step was to send invoices via Stripe and Paypal to the partners. One completely ignored the invoices. The other denied the charges and canceled the bill. With that sort of response, a little social shaming was in order. That’s where this post comes in. I also tagged both owners at the social media sites they can be found at politely asking when I could expect payment. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.

I haven’t completely given up on the idea of virtual assisting. I found the work to be diverse and interesting. I didn’t need stable internet for large blocks of time like I do teaching. I was good at what I was doing. However, this not getting paid aspect made me rethink some things.

Going forward, if my first invoice is not paid in a timely manner, I will no longer continue to work for the client until the invoice is paid. I still might not get paid, but I won’t waste as much time as I did with the above job. There are a lot of fish in the sea or rather people who need the services of virtual assistants. I can certainly find someone with enough integrity to pay for those services.

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