Educational backwardness is not a number, it is a tragedy.

On a work trip to the state of Chiapas, I met Don Manuel, a 54-year-old man who works as a day laborer. As we talked, he confessed with some embarrassment that he couldn't read well. "I learned to sign my name, but I have a hard time reading a receipt," he told me. There was no complaint in his voice, but rather resignation, and I thought about how unfair it is that millions of Mexicans carry the same silent burden: not having had access to quality education.

The poverty results have just been published, and this time it wasn't Coneval that presented them, but INEGI , for the first time ever. And while the numbers may give the impression of progress, behind every figure are stories like Don Manuel's.

Yes, because quality and relevant education is the main driver of social mobility. It drives productivity gains and economic growth; there is no public policy more powerful than ensuring that girls, boys, and young people can access better opportunities through knowledge.

But the data show us that we remain stagnant. In 2024, nationwide, 24.2 million people experienced educational gaps. Educational gaps are a condition of backwardness in the education system, where a person has not reached the level they should have, either by not attending school, dropping out, or being several years below the corresponding grade level. Between 2022 and 2024, the percentage of the population with this gap fell from just 19.4% to 18.6%. The reduction is minimal if we consider the magnitude of the challenge and the generations that continue to lose valuable years of preparation.

Most worrying is that six states saw an increase in this indicator, led by Chiapas (from 31.1% to 34.0%), Oaxaca (from 29.1% to 30.5%), and Veracruz (from 25.5% to 26.3%). Meanwhile, Tabasco remained unchanged at 17.9%, which amounts to a standstill that should not be normalized. Figures published by INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography).

The educational gap isn't a cold figure for technical reports. It's a tragedy that condemns millions of people to remain trapped in poverty, unable to aspire to better employment, unable to innovate, and unable to compete in a world that demands ever-greater education. And, worse still, it's an accumulated debt that's passed down from parents to children, effectively shattering the possibility of social mobility.

Every percentage point that rises or falls short enough means thousands of stories cut short: young people who dropped out of school to work, girls who never had access to secondary school, adults who face a labor market that marginalizes them for not having a certificate. This is the loss of talent, creativity, and human development that Mexico urgently needs.

I can't help but be surprised when I hear authorities say "we're doing well." The question we should be asking ourselves is: what will happen to those 24 million Mexicans who are currently on the margins of knowledge? Because not only their future, but that of the entire country, is at stake in that answer.

As long as we don't understand that education is not an expense, but the best social and economic investment, we will continue to be condemned to managing poverty instead of overcoming it. If all social spending went to education, we would be addressing the underlying problem.