Once upon a time there was a socialist school...

By Lillian Briseño

Much has been said lately about the new textbooks, which some have branded as communist, as if this were the greatest sin in the world. As if we were still living in the early 20th century, when this philosophy was almost falsely associated with diabolical practices. Communists/socialists "do not believe in God"; "they eat children"; "they pervert people", it was said, imagining catastrophic scenarios for children.

The current reactions to textbooks inevitably take us back to what happened almost a century ago in this country, when in 1934 Article 3 of the Constitution was modified and it was established that the education provided by the State should be socialist, compulsory and free. This decision was the cherry on the cake of the many changes that were being promoted by the government after the civil war and that made some sectors of the country's hair stand on end.