SEP

Following the ideas defended by Carranza about the municipal autonomy, was suppressed in the Constitution of 1917 the Secretariat of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, which contrary to the aspiration of democratize the educational administration, covered only the Federal District and the federal territories.

In spite of good intentions, the municipal territories were incapable to face up the educational challenges. Therefore, in 1919, the public education seriously resented the lack of adequate organization: only in the Federal District, stayed open in 1917, 148 of 344 existent schools.

When Adolfo de la Huerta became president, the changes began. Firstly, the University Department received the educational function that used to have the Federal District Government.

In order to obey the democratization in the educational administration, and with the postulated in the third constitutional article, it was necessary an action at national level, because it was not enough with only declare the free, secular and obligatory education: it was necessary to take the measures needed to achieve it. 

The Project to create a Secretariat of Federal Public Education required a constitutional reform. Meanwhile, José Vasconcelos Calderón, who was defending the idea of giving education a federal character, assumed the rectory of National University.

As Dean of the University and main chief of the University Department, Vasconcelos began to plan the project in a practical way, establishing different measures with the object of getting together the several educational levels; began the scholar breakfast project and made that the new Secretariat of Education had a departmental structure.  

The 3 fundamental departments were:

1.     The Scholar Department, that got together all the educational levels, from kinder garden, to university;

2.     The Library Department, with the object to guarantee reading materials to support the education at all levels, and

3.     The Fine Arts Department to coordinate all the artistic activities that complement education.

With the pass of time, other departments were created in order to solve more specific problems, like, indigenous education, literacy campaigns, etc.