(“Literacy education in Ecuador: Historic Evolution, Updated Information and
National Illiteracy Map”, Sep. 2009) conducted by Juan Ponce and Mercedes Onofa,
researchers at FLACSO-Ecuador, and commissioned by the UNESCO Office in
Quito. Juan sent the document to me, aware of my interest in this topic. (The
document, which I attach here, can surely be requested to the Ministry of Education
or to UNESCO, or found in their respective web sites. For easy access and reference I
have uploaded it inhttp://w w w .s cribd.com/doc /20406459/L a- alfabeti zacion- en-el-

In the Introduction of this report, the researchers inform that they used the 2001
census to determine the base line in order to calculate a literacy projection for 2009.
The purpose of such projection was to get an updated map of illiteracy at local
(cantonal) level, not to estimate the national illiteracy rate. The researchers very
clearly state that the projected rate of 2,8% by the end of 2009 cannot be used as a
national rate since it was based on very rough assumptions. Explicit warnings on this
are included in the Introduction as well as in paragraphs 38 and 39, and also in a
footnote.

its efforts to eradicate illiteracy, establish comparisons at the local (“cantonal”)
level, strengthen ongoing programs, and visualize policies and strategies to ensure
lifelong learning. However, it is important to insist that the data of this study cannot

couple of months. With this information at hand it will be possible to better establish
the situation of adult illiteracy in the country. In any case, it is important to remember
that even those data will be unreliable since they continue to be based on people’s
self-perception and self-declaration, rather than on an evaluation of the effective
acquisition of reading and writing by those who do not consider themselves illiterate
or do not declare this condition because of shame or other well known reasons. In
fact, the lack of credibility of illiteracy/literacy statistics is an old problem and an old
issue in the field of adult education, not only in Ecuador but also in most Latin
American and Caribbean countries and in other regions in the South.

claimed to have lowered the adult illiteracy rate to 2,7% (which would mean one of
the lowest, if not the lowest, in this region…) It is thus inevitable to raise a few
questions: Why the rush, why not wait for the results of the home surveys, which will
be available soon? Why did the Minister decide to ignore the warnings and the
recommendations included in the report commissioned and coordinated by UNESCO,
which was used precisely as reference to declare Ecuador a Literate Country? Why
consider “literate” people who enroll in a program, without an evaluation that verifies
if and what they learned effectively?

My long national and international experience in the field of literacy education - and
my frequent visits to adult literacy centers, especially in recent years – confirms that
many people counted as “literate” have not really learned to read and write, and that
many of them have previous school experiences and are therefore not included in
official illiteracy statistics. Moreover, we understand that a Literate Country is a
country where not only people aged 15 years and over but the whole population

(school age children, adolescents, youth and adults) are able to read and write with the basic levels necessary to be considered “literate” in today’s world -- something which is far from the reality in our country.

Given the long history of literacy efforts that have taken place in Ecuador over the
past sixty years, and given the major advance of scientific knowledge in this field, it is
surprising the precariousness with which illiteracy and literacy continue to be treated,
the obsession with statistics, and the usual inconsistent use of data. It is the
responsibility of the State/government and of the mass media – and even more so, of
research and academic institutions – to verify the sources, to check the validity and/or
the flaws of the information available, to pose questions, to keep up to date with
relevant knowledge, and to inform properly and educate the population on education
issues.

Unfortunately, politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats and journalists tend to focus their
attention on statistics. Beneath quantitative data and the dispute for illiteracy/literacy
rates lie the most important aspects, those related to the objectives, qualities, learning,
and personal and social impacts of literacy acquisition, to the new scenarios and
meanings of the written culture in contemporary times, all of them issues that are

(1988-89)
- Ex-member of the Jury for UNESCO’s International Literacy Prizes (2000-2002)
- Member of UNESCO’s advisory team for the launching of the United Nations Literacy