Although it’s true that in the Latin American region, it has been informed that education has registered advances and that the school enrolment gap in primary education has been practically bridged between men and women, point nº2 that Sergio refers to is very important because it can give us information on how a future return to illiteracy is foreseen, in the short-term, in this region.

However, it is important to include a reflection on how this is affecting the situation of girls, from the rural sector and the indigenous ones. This reflection takes into account that a more difficult economic situation, environment problems such as droughts that several countries of Latin America have suffered, plus the rise in food price, could be the reason why girls are not attending school with the necessary frequency. Child work in the fields is a reality that affects both sexes but affects women in particular. It is common that girls and adolescents keep attending school and are, at the same time, responsible of household chores that include taking care of their brothers and sisters, preparing meals, and even community tasks. Therefore, the phenomenon of double or triple workload appears for women, at an early stage, particularly for rural and indigenous women where child workforce is also in charge of agricultural tasks, because in this area the division between household and farm is very ambiguous.

In the upper cycles of the education system it has been also found that there are asymmetric gender relationships. These intensify in the rural area from the inter generic as well as the intra generic relationships, compared to the rural area.

Despite education policies, the characteristics of the education provided for the rural area has not overcome the historical division between urban and rural second-hand education, with serious deficiencies in provision of human resources, infrastructure, equipment and material.

The rural-urban gap in education between rural/indigenous women and those from the urban sector can be rather significant.

Recent studies carried out in several countries of the region, on the situation of rural women (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile) have confirmed that there still is a vertical segregation; exclusion is intensified in higher school levels for recent generations and the exclusion from the system of youth and adults who have not finished their studies. As the study in Bolivia indicates, the inter generic and intra generic gaps are maintained, being more remarkable in the rural area, compared to the urban area.

But why does this situation happen?

The education offer has not succeeded in reverting the education urban-rural gaps due to lack of infrastructure, human resources  but also because education demand hardly considers socio-cultural factors such as cultural systems, labor possibilities, life projection. 

Although it is true that there is consensus on the fact that the level of schooling is directly related to the access to work, in the rural area, schooling differences with the urban sector have an important impact on poverty reduction for women and indigenous people. In the present context of education disadvantage it is possible to foresee that said reproduction tends to reproduce poverty in rural women.

Regarding illiteracy, the urban-rural gap is evident, as it is between urban and rural women.

Studies on the situation of rural women in the above-mentioned countries indicate that the more relevant aspects identified among the difficulties of access/permanence at school of girls and young women from the rural and indigenous sector are, among others:
a)      little infrastructure and human resources available, and deficient organization of school centers.
b)      Inability to recognize socio-cultural factors in the educational process of this population
c)      Training and performance of professors that reproduce gender inequality
d)      An educational system that reproduces ethnical and gender discrimination
e)      but, also, above all, that contents and the educational process in general, are not adapted to the rural reality of schoolgirls and young women.

Which is the challenge that we, as educators, have to reduce the urban-rural gap that affects rural and indigenous women?

There might be many answers but it would be very interesting if we could make a contribution from the perspective of the participants of this virtual seminar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace Greetings

Would like to appreciate the effort made by ICAE towards making this virtual seminar and also thanks all the people from the different countries who have taken time to submit in their views and comments.

 

As regards Kenya:

The Adult literacy levels expecially in the rural areas leaves a lot to be desired. Majority of the adults never went to school and those who went dropped out at an early level. A level not enough to empower them with knowledge that can help them build better lives for themselves or for their children.

At this level, most of them are in the informal sector, doing manual jobs since the literacy levels are low, not allowing them to access better paying jobs. Kenya has just gone through a difficult period in the recent weeks.

Statistics show that its the illiterate who went to the streets and were carrying machetes and other crude weapons. Its for the lack of adequate knowledge that many of them were doing that. The educated masses were not outside fighting or killing their neighbours.

With this in mind-it is necessary, if not urgent for the government of Kenya, and other governments like Zimbabwe (has among the highest illiteracy levels especially among women) to embrace adult education, in order to elevate the literacy levels. This is the way to fight poverty and ignorance among the populace. Let us not forget that an enlightened person can offer her children better opportunities or chat a path that would take one far in life.

Governments should fully fund adult education programs, by creating funds or kittys that can accelerate the growth of adult education thereby raising the literacy levels.

The case of Kenya is a firm example of why we need more funds allocated to Adult Education programs. We saw what happened in Rwanda and Burundi. All these are related to Adult literacy in one way or another. Through education one can make informed choices.

Keep the Fight. Make the change. Become the change that you want to see.
 

In Peace

Jack Shaka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The analysis presented by Cecilia Soriano is very solid and consistent. In Brazil we can say that the advancement in public policies, with the objective of strengthening adult education, is significant. Since 2007 we have FUNDEB ( http://portal.mec.gov.br/seb/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=288&Itemid=270  ), financing for education that provides financial resources to education systems for all basic education, including, in an innovative way, the education of youth and adults. We can say that the action of public power at federal level, from the Ministry of Education is in line with the principles of education as a right. Still, the Hamburg Declaration expresses that “the most pressing concern is to facilitate learning opportunities for all, particularly the marginalized and excluded people”.

Considering Brazilian reality, it is imperative to face the challenge of reaffirming the principles related to diversity and the search of racial equality, through dialogue with the purpose of an anti-racist education. If we build the profile of marginalized students in Brazil, we will prove that an important part is composed by afro-descendants who, imprisoned in a vicious circle of racism and poverty, are the preferred victims of school exclusion. The illiteracy rates among afro-descendant population, over 15 years old, is 18,7%. For the white population it is 7,7%. If we analyze functional illiteracy, we identify a rate of 36% among afro-descendants, against 20% among white people (INEP, Federal Government, 2003). Besides, if we consider racial and gender intersection, we will confirm that afro-descendant women have less schooling than afro-descendant men, than white women and men. Racism and exclusion of afro-descendant men and women is an element that cannot be underestimated, either in the construction of concepts or in the elaboration and evaluation of policies.

So, beyond the 3 factors presented by Cecilia, which contribute to the marginalization of people:
1) poverty,
2) language and
3) distance,

I would like to propose another one: racism that, as a structuring element in our societies and schools, weakens school performance and breaks the bond with knowledge.  Racism, as well as sexism, cannot be absent  the issue of adult literacy, considering that the struggle against racism (and sexism) constitutes a key axis for the advancement of public policies.