Sección 22 of the Coordinadora Nacional de los Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) in Oaxaca announced it will not recover missed school days [1].

The decision creates a significant gap in the academic year for thousands of students. Because the union is rejecting official calendar modifications, students may finish their term without meeting standard instructional hour requirements.

Schools in Oaxaca reopened on Monday after being closed for almost a month [2]. Approximately 11,200 basic-level schools resumed operations [1]. Despite the reopening, the union maintains its strike and its "plantón" protest site [3].

The union rejected the modified calendar proposed by the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) [4]. Union representatives said the SEP's proposed changes would force teachers and students to make up lost days. The union said this is unfair while they continue to strike for better working conditions [4].

The academic year is currently scheduled to conclude on July 7, 2024 [4]. This timeline leaves little room for the recovery of the instructional time lost during the recent closures.

The labor unrest has a history of timing its disruptions around major events. The strike began 17 days before the inauguration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup [3].

“Sección 22 announced it will not recover missed school days.”

The refusal by Sección 22 to adhere to the SEP's recovery calendar highlights a persistent conflict between Mexico's federal education authority and one of its most powerful regional unions. By maintaining a strike while simultaneously reopening schools, the union is leveraging the academic calendar to pressure the government for better labor conditions, potentially leaving a generation of students in Oaxaca with incomplete schooling for the 2024 cycle.