ABSTRACT
The Secretary of Public Education (SEP) oversees educational system. Basic education is compulsory from kindergarten until high school. This chapter describes the project Scientific Formation from a Gender Perspective in Mexico, which supports development of gifted indigenous female students. It was started in 2010 by the programme Adopt a Talent (PAUTA) and operates in Highlands of the state of Chiapas, which is one of the Mexican regions with very low economic development. Educational coverage in Mexico has increased rapidly. In only four decades women's presence in higher education has increased by 184 percent, whereas men's presence has only done so by 38 percent. Gifted and talented students in Mexico began to become focus of concern in the 1980s, when they were legally considered as part of the special education programmes. The economic support is deemed necessary, given the high levels of poverty in region and that economic factors are regarded one of the main reasons that girls give up school.
