New Delhi, May 15 -- The football World Cup is still a month away. But in Mexico the planet's biggest sporting event has already spawned its first political row, ending with an own goal for the education ministry.

On May 7th Mario Delgado, the education minister, said the school year would end on June 5th rather than July 15th, cutting it by 15%. He cited extreme heat and the "issue of the World Cup", which Mexico is co-hosting with the United States and Canada.

The backlash was immediate. Parents asked what they were supposed to do with their children while they worked. Think-tanks noted that the burden would fall disproportionately on women, who spend roughly twice as much time as men on unpaid domestic work. Others wondered why a nat...