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The National Drill Has Passed: What Your School Needs to Have Ready After September 19

September 21, 2026 · 6 min read

On Saturday, the alert sounded and students evacuated to the safety zone. The next question is whether there is an active Internal Civil Protection Program behind that exercise, or if it was just good intentions.

The drill has passed: now it's time to check if your school is truly prepared

On Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 12:00 PM, the 2026 Second National Drill was held, organized by the National Civil Protection Coordination (part of the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, SSPC). The exercise was based on five different seismic scenarios —the main one being a magnitude 7.7 earthquake with epicenter in Tehuacán, Puebla— and involved public institutions, companies, residences, and educational institutions across the country to register their buildings and activate their internal protocols (SSPC, September 17, 2026).

If your school participated, the next question isn't 'How did we do?' but a more uncomfortable one: Is what we did on Saturday supported by a formal, current, and registered program, or was it just good intentions without proper documentation? For a private school director or owner, this difference is not superficial. In several parts of the country, it is a legal requirement with real consequences if not fulfilled.

Why September is the month that tests schools

The timing is no coincidence. September 19 carries the symbolic weight of two earthquakes that impacted Mexico City and the entire country: those of 1985 and 2017. For years, civil protection authorities have chosen this date —or a nearby weekend— for the largest national exercise on the Mexican civic calendar.

For schools, the national drill is visible and punctual: the alarm sounds, students evacuate to the safety zone, and the evacuation time is recorded. But this is just the visible part. Behind this brief exercise should be a document that many private school directors do not have complete, or do not know they need: the Civil Protection Internal Program (PIPC), also called, in its school version, the School Civil Protection Internal Program (PIPCE).

What is the PIPC and why is it not optional

The national legal framework is the General Civil Protection Law, which states that buildings —including educational facilities— must have Civil Protection Internal Programs as part of the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC). Each federal entity then regulates the details: who authorizes it, its validity period, and required attachments.

The case of Mexico City illustrates well the level of requirement this obligation can have. On March 2, 2021, a decree was published reforming the City of Mexico's Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection Law, making the Civil Protection Internal Program mandatory for public and private schools of basic, middle, and higher education. The City of Mexico's Risk Management and Civil Protection Secretariat (SGIRPC) also published specific terms of reference for schools, requiring each institution to have its own PIPC School, prepared by an accredited third party.

Among the requirements set by that decree for private schools in the capital are:

- A risk analysis, internal and external to the facility.

- A structural safety report of the building.

- The relevant safety and operation authorization.

- A non-cancellable civil liability insurance policy, different from the one required for public schools (which operate with institutional insurance).

Once the program is completed, it is valid for two years and must be renewed within that period: it is not a one-time process done when opening the school and forgotten afterward.

The Internal Committee: the part that is not paperwork

The PIPC is not just a stored document: it requires the formation of a School Internal Civil Protection Committee (CIPCE), made up of staff from the school itself, trained to operate, disseminate, and keep the program updated. This committee should be behind every drill conducted during the year, not just the national one in September, but also those the school practices on its own, with different scenarios (earthquake, fire, gas leak, evacuation due to threat) and at different times, including those without prior notice.

The Ministry of Public Education, for its part, distributes civil protection materials for basic education schools, such as operational guides for directors and teachers, which reflect the same logic: the drill does not replace the program, it exercises it.

Common failures in private schools

Reviewing the regulations and terms of reference from different entities reveals the same weaknesses year after year in private schools:

- The program exists but has expired: it was processed when opening the school and was never renewed within the local law's timeframe (in Mexico City, two years).

- The structural report is outdated or does not match the current building, common when the school expanded, built a new structure, or remodeled without updating the file.

- The civil liability policy does not meet the non-cancellable condition, or simply does not exist as a separate document within the PIPC folder.

- The internal committee exists on paper, but no one has been re-trained since its formation, and with normal staff turnover during a school cycle, many original members are no longer at the school.

- Evacuation routes and meeting points were not updated after an expansion, furniture change, or new building opening.

None of these issues are resolved during the drill. They are addressed or identified by reviewing the entire program folder carefully, outside the symbolic September date.

What to do after the drill, not before

A practical recommendation for any private school director after an exercise like September 19 is to use the following days for a specific review:

1. Locate the complete PIPC file and confirm the date of its last authorization and validity.

2. Verify that the structural report matches the current building, including any recent construction or remodeling.

3. Confirm with the insurer that the civil liability policy remains active and meets the local regulatory conditions (in Mexico City, non-cancellable).

4. Review who currently makes up the School Internal Civil Protection Committee and whether that staff is still at the school and has received recent training.

5. Contact your local civil protection authority directly: each state has its own law and registration process, and deadlines and required attachments vary.

The national drill fulfills its purpose when it reminds us of a real risk. However, the part that truly protects a school community is the one that is not visible on a Saturday afternoon: the current program, the trained committee, and the documentation supporting both.