Mexico’s education authorities scrapped a plan to end the 2025-26 school year on June 5 and kept the calendar unchanged after backlash over the World Cup and extreme heat. The school year is now set to end on July 15, with classes resuming on Aug. 31 in reports that listed the restart date. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Education Minister Mario Delgado had proposed the early end, saying the change was needed because of “an extraordinary heatwave, the World Cup and other factors.” Mexico is set to co-host the tournament with the United States and Canada, and the reports said officials also wanted to ease traffic and logistics in host cities. [1, 2, 7, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Parents, think tanks and local authorities pushed back, saying the plan would disrupt lessons and daily routines for millions of students. One report said 23.4 million students would have been affected if the school year had been cut short by about 40 days. [1, 2, 7, 3, 4, 5, 6]
President Claudia Sheinbaum said the early end was only “a proposal” and later said the government wanted a consensus decision after hearing from parents. She added that the aim was to keep the six-week vacation period, saying, “The goal is for it to be a consensus decision” and “Now we need to listen.” [1, 3]
The dispute surfaced on May 7, when Delgado announced the proposal to move the end date to June 5. Reports on May 8 said the plan drew immediate backlash, and some accounts said two states had already rejected it before it was cancelled. Education officials met on May 11 and agreed to keep the school calendar unchanged. [1, 2, 7, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The World Cup starts on June 11, and some reports said Mexico’s opening match will be in Mexico City. Under the final calendar, the school year ends on July 15 and classes resume on Aug. 31. [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]
