Mexico City – Well over half – 59.7 percent – of the 16,283 applicants for more than 5,000 open teaching positions in Mexico's public schools received failing scores in the second round of competitive examinations, the government said last week.

Only 6,564 people qualified as "suitable," the National Registry of the Professional Teaching Service said. Among the suitable applicants, a mere 280 earned the highest qualification, defined as a sufficient command of the necessary knowledge and skills and the ability to apply them in a range of different situations.

Around 60 percent of the 79,000 people who took part in the first round of competitive exams, held last August, also fell short.

Applicants who pass the exam must survive two additional evaluations to enter the National System of Teachers, where new instructors undergo a three-year probationary period before being confirmed in a teaching post.