ON ILLITERACY AND LITERACYDeclaration of the members of the Latin American Group of Specialists in Literacyand Written Culture (GLEACE)

We, the undersigned members of the Latin American Group of Specialists in Literacyand Written Culture (GLEACE), wish to express that:1.We valorise the renewed efforts which have been made in Latin America and theCaribbean in the field of adult education.2.We consider specially propitious the setting and the moment created by the 6

International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI, Belem, Brazil,1

4 December 2009) to be held for the first time in the southern hemisphere andspecifically in this region.3.We feel ourselves moved by the call to advance “from literacy to lifelonglearning” set out during CONFINTEA V (Hamburg, 1997) and repeated in thecase of this region in the preparatory regional conference, held in Mexico inSeptember 2008.4.At the same time, and in this framework, we observe with preoccupation:(a)The predominant emphasis which has been given to literacy, to the point of onceagain reducing adult education to literacy. In addition, the traditionaldichotomies between illiterate and literate and between “pure” illiterates and“functional” illiterates, widely questioned by abundant research as well as bythe very development and complexity of the written culture in the world, persist.(b)Literacy activities which are implemented in a vacuum, both at national andregional levels, ignoring the rich and lengthy history of adult literacy for whichLatin America and the Caribbean are well know internationally.(c)The persistence of a simplistic and facile conception of literacy seen as a process which can be executed in a short period of time, in precariousconditions, by educators with little or no training, using just one method, withscarce reading and writing materials, a feeble use of modern technologies andwithout taking into account the linguistic and cultural diversity of the students.Precisely because they are illiterate people or with low levels of schooling these poor sectors which have for years been denied the right to education, deservecontemporary educational provision of the highest quality.(d)The absence of learner assessment, often considering as literate those peopleenrolled in programmes or who declare themselves as literate, without verifyingwhat they have really learned and without creating conditions in which they canuse what they have learned and continue learning. This way of proceeding notonly ignores the centrality which should be attributed to learning in the wholeeducational process but also the very experience of rigorous evaluations of massliteracy campaigns and programmes carried out in the same region in the pastand in the present, by which as a result instead of advancing, in many cases wewitness regression.1

(e)The political use of numbers and literacy rates, including the declaration of ‘territories free of illiteracy’ or ‘literate countries’ on the basis of a purelystatistical estimate. Instead of facing up to the problematic with the integritywhich this deserves, the illusion is created of having solved illiteracy in a recordtime. This contributes, on the other hand, to the contrary effect which is thegreater marginalization of those people and groups who are declared as literatewhen they are not.(f)The continued separation of illiteracy from its structural conditions of reproduction, principally poverty and the denial of the right to a public freequality education for the whole population, without which it is unthinkable tosolve the question of literacy in a sustainable fashion.5.In this context, we make a renewed call to the international organisms tocoordinate inter-agency actions and to carry out their technical role, assumingtheir responsibility in the face of the indispensable seriousness, transparency andcredibility of those government actions which they support. It is not anexaggeration to record that organisms like UNESCO and others dedicated to thetasks of international cooperation, were created to offer support to governmentsfor the benefit of their peoples.6.Finally, we request that CONFINTEA VI deals in a critical and reflexive manner with the question of illiteracy and the literacy of young people and adults in thisregion and in the whole world, encouraging government initiatives but withinthe framework of a sincere and not demagogic dialogue, open to the participation of social organisations and to the diverse national and internationalactors who intervene in this field.Sincerely,

Marta Acevedo

(Mexico). Editor of books and material in original languages.

Miriam Camilo Recio

(Dominican Republic). Coordinator of the Master’s Course inAdult and Youth Education at the Santo Domingo Technological Institute (INTEC),member of the Latin American Council of Adult Education (CEAAL) Working Groupon Literacy and Adult Education), ex-General Director of Adult Education, StateSecretariat of Education.

Silvia Castrillón

(Colombia). Librarian. President of the Colombian Association for Reading and Writing (

Asociación Colombiana de Lectura y Escritura

)-ASOLECTURA,Bogotá.

Lola Cendales, G

. (Colombia). Educator and researcher of Dimensión Educativa,Bogotá.

Susana Fiorito

(Argentina). President of the Pedro Milesi Foundation and of the BellaVista Popular Library (Córdoba). Coordinator of a Learning Community project whosecentral concern is reading and writing.

Gregório Hernández Zamora

(Mexico). Doctor in Language and Written Culturefrom Berkeley University – USA, researcher and independent consultant.

Maria Isabel Infante R.

(Chile). National Coordinator of Adult Education, Ministry of Education.

Timothy Ireland

(Brazil). Lecturer on the Post-Graduate Programme in Education atthe Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa.

Maria Luisa Jáuregui

(El Salvador). Ex-Regional Specialist in Adult and YouthEducation at the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean(OREALC), in Santiago de Chile.

Maria Eugenia Letelier

(Chile). Coordinator of the National System of Evaluation of Learning and Certification of Studies, Chilecalifica Programme.

Luis Oscar Londoño Z.

(Colombia). Independent researcher in Education. Specialist inAdult Education.

Vera Masagão Ribeiro

(Brazil). Researcher and coordinator of programmes for theONG Ação Educativa, São Paulo.

Ana María Méndez Puga

(Mexico). Lecturer-researcher in the School of Psychologyat the Michoacán University in San Nicolás de Hildago, Morelia, Michoacán.

Eliana Ramírez de Sánchez Moreno

(Peru). Educator. Specialist in reading andwriting acquisition.

José Rivero H.

(Peru). International consultant, ex-specialist in Adult Education at theUNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC), inSantiago de Chile, and founding member of the Peruvian National Council of Education.

Miguel Soler Roca

(Uruguay). Uruguayan teacher. Ex-Director of the UNESCODivision of Literacy, Adult Education and Rural Development and Doctor HonorisCausa from the University of the Republic, Montevideo.

Rosaura Soligo

(Brazil). Teacher, trainer of teachers, researcher and collaborator in theGroup of Studies and Research in Continuing Education (GEPEC) at UNICAMP andcoordinator of projects at the Abaporu Institute of Education and Culture,Campinas/São Paulo.

Rosa Maria Torres

(Ecuador). Coordinator of the Latin American Group of Specialistsin Literacy and Written Culture (GLEACE). Coordinator of the Latin AmericanPronouncement on Education for All. Ex-Adviser of the Education Section at UNICEF- New York and editor of the bulletin Education News. Ex-Minister of Education andCultures. Ex-Pedagogical Director of the National Literacy Campaign “Monseñor Leonidas Proaño”. Moderator of the virtual networks E-ducative Community andEcuador-reads-and-writes.

Vera Barreto

(Brazil). Educator with great experience in Adult and Youth Education,Pedagogical Coordinator of the Vereda Centre of Studies in Education, São Paulo.

Other subscribers:Cecilia Amaluisa Fiallos

(Ecuador). Specialist in adult education. Ex National Director of Lifelong Popular Education at the Ministry of Education, Ecuador, member of theinter-governmental group responsible for formulating the Iberoamerican Plan for