Mexico cancels plans to end school year early for World Cup

Parents were angry at a proposal to end classes on 5 June instead of 15 July due to the tournament and expected extreme heat. Mexico cancels plans to end school year early for World Cup Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. A mother picks up her children from an elementary school in Mexico City. She is flanked by a smaller boy, who is carrying a backpack, and a bigger boy, who is carrying a bag in his hand. Other children are walking towards them. The Mexican government has cancelled plans to end the school year more than a month early to ease traffic during the Fifa World Cup and an anticipated heatwave. Mexico is due to co-host the football tournament with the United States and Canada from 11 June to 19 July. The reversal comes after an outcry by parents who warned that it would disrupt their children's studies. Many families also said that they had been thrown into a tailspin, trying to arrange for weeks of childcare to cover the early finish. After the U-turn, classes will now finish on 15 July - and not on the proposed earlier date of 5 June. The row was brought about by an announcement by the education minister on 7 May, when Mario Delgado said that "an extraordinary heatwave, the World Cup and other factors" had led to the decision to end the school year early. However, the announcement was met with anger by the National Union of Parents, which said that citing the World Cup as a reason to cancel classes was "inexcusable". Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum quickly clarified that cutting short classes had only been "a proposal". The idea was finally quashed on Monday after the education ministry had held further consultations with parents and education think tanks. President Sheinbaum has assured visiting fans that they will encounter "conditions of security" in the country. Security arrangements have been under intense scrutiny since a wave of violence swept over the country following the death of notorious drug leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera two months ago. Members of El Mencho's cartel burnt cars and spread terror in retaliation after their leader died of injuries sustained during a clash with soldiers deployed to arrest him. Sheinbaum has also been adamant that works on the Azteca stadium in Mexico City and the capital's international airport will be concluded in time. Split screen. On one side, we see construction inside Benito Juárez International Airport. On the other side, we see Will Grant. Will Mexico City's airport be ready for the World Cup? Cooling break during the quarter-final between in Italy and Netherlands the 2019 women's football World cup at Stade du Hainaut, on the 29 June 2019. How could extreme weather affect World Cup 2026? Two police officers guard the area after in front of a giant football installed as part of the 100 days leading up to the 2026 Fifa World Cup, in Guadalajara Mexico to deploy 100,000 security personnel for World Cup The federal government faces widespread anger for saying the school year could end on 5 June to accommodate the football tournament. The Mexican Football Federation threatens to drop players from the country's World Cup squad if they fail to report for a training camp this week. The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, hails from the same party as the president of Mexico.