Overview
- This week the Ministry of Education published the draft Lineamientos para la Gestión de la Disciplina Escolar and opened it for public consultation.
- The proposal reintroduces expulsions, a formal conduct grade, strict appearance rules for public students and rules to formally cite parents with immediate referral of serious aggressors to the police and Public Ministry.
- Responses have split: some unions and school leaders welcome clearer authority for teachers, Empresarios por la Educación has expressed support while urging greater autonomy for school directors to adapt rules, and other specialists call for stronger formative and tutorial approaches.
- Critics warn the draft treats minor infractions and serious violence in ways that could be disproportionate and that many public schools lack the mental-health, tutor and reporting capacity to avoid excluding vulnerable students.
- The consultation will test whether the government adds legal safeguards, resources and school-level discretion because expulsions are expected to be rare but the policy change is symbolic and could reshape how schools manage safety and inclusion.