Ecuador     Population (approx.) 12 million   Literacy Statistics Overall: 90.1% Male: 92.0% Female: 88.2%   GNP Per Capita (US Dollars) $4,730     Source: The World Bank Development Indicators, 1996; CIA World Fact Book 1997

Country Report presented by Sonia Fabiola Neira Delgado

Over the last 40 years, there has been a 76.7% decrease in the illiteracy rate in Ecuador leaving the current literacy rate at about 90%. The majority of the remaining 1.2 million individuals needing literacy instruction in Ecuador are concentrated in rural areas, where an insufficient number of formal schools means that many children do not have access to education.

The "Sor Teresa Valsé" Center in the city of Cuenca is a private, Catholic, non-profit institution with a primary school for girls and basic and post-literacy classes for adults. It was created in the early 70s and serves the marginalized sectors of the population, especially migrating peasants and the unemployed. Girls and women's literacy are considered a priority at the center, and most of the students fall into the 12-18 age group with a small percentage of adults older than 36.

The teachers in the program are nuns from the community and are paid a modest salary for teaching. Students from similar centers are accepted into the program, and students who have left the program are allowed to enroll again. Funds for the center are provided by the students (if they are able to pay; if not, they are not required to), or from donations from the community and regular contributions from the congregation.

Evaluation of student progress is performed periodically by means of examination, and results are reported to the National Board of the Popular Permanent Education for verification and approval. In May 1989, the school accepted the invitation of the Ministry of Education and Culture to become part of the National Campaign for Literacy.

The work of the Sor Teresa Valsé Center has yielded very positive results whereby the most recent statistics indicate that the majority of the registered students at the center graduated from basic literacy into the second- and third-level post-literacy classes.

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INTERNATIONAL LITERACY INSTITUTE
Graduate School of Education/University of Pennsylvania
3910 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-3111 USA
Telephone 215-898-2100 | Fax 215-898-9804 | E-mail: sltp@literacy.upenn.edu

Revised: July 6, 1998