Illiteracy and Educational Wastage in Latin America. Literacy Lessons / Juan Carlos Tedesco.

Despite guaranteed access to primary education and seemingly comprehensive enrollment, many Latin American countries have high rates of illiteracy. Four sets of factors affecting academic performance have been identified as contributors to the situation. External material factors include: the impact of malnutrition on intellectual development; the correlation between socioeconomic status and achievement; the relationship between type of housing and achievement; and the effects of child labor. External cultural factors are: parental level of education; parents' educational attitudes and values; different linguistic patterns among socioeconomic classes; and definition of the role of the child. Internal material factors are: extent of schools' educational resources; regional differences in resource levels; promotion and failure policies; and provision of preschool programs. Internal cultural factors include: teacher attitude, training, and experience; role of reading and writing; and teacher/pupil interaction. Studies of these factors show that many aspects of performance are concentrated in lower-income categories, rural areas, and the first years of primary education. Solutions should seek to improve the retention capacity of schools and quality of instruction. Particularly promising are attempts to adapt content, methods, and school organization to the characteristics and needs of the target population. (SK)

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