Literacy in Latin America: Progress, Problems, and Perspectives. Literacy Lessons.

Overview & Synopsis

Latin America continues to have about 44 million illiterate people. Since the 1950s, education went from being a requisite of national identity to being recognized as an instrument of power, an important factor of development, the dispenser of human resources, and the guarantor of the continuity of the entire local scene. Important post-World War II education meetings have included the Regional Seminar on Adult Literacy and Education in Rio de Janeiro in 1949 and the Seminar in Primary Education in Montevideo in 1950. Other important meetings took place during the 1950s. In 1979, the Declaration of Mexico set the goals for the Major Project in Education in Latin America. Towns are no longer able to absorb part of the rural work force and most people who subsist on the peripheries of cities have nothing to do there. Among educational problems are teachers who do not have sufficient education, school programs that are not relevant to their students, and the large gap between community life and the scholastic milieu. Yet people are optimistic about changes. The conditions for success are of an ethical and political order. Only in a framework of greater equality will it be possible to make progress. International Literacy Year is a stimulating challenge and signifies the moment of truth for Latin America. (CML)