President Javier Milei launched this Thursday (4) a national literacy plan in Argentina (a country where seven out of ten children do not understand what they read), which will increase the amount of resources allocated to the provinces, as well as requirements imposed on teachers and students.
“It is time to join forces between the national government, provincial governments and society, and choose this pillar again [alfabetização] which is the support point of the entire educational system,” said Milei in a speech in the province of San Juan.
The “heart” of the plan is “providing resources and tools to teachers and raising standards for both teachers and students,” Milei explained.
The plan consists of “training all teachers in literacy,” “giving resources to the provinces” to train them, “evaluating teachers” from the national government and “proposing incentives” so that the best teachers teach in schools with the worst literacy indicators, he added.
“We will assess students earlier and earlier to identify reading and writing issues before it is too late, because today Aprender assessments are carried out from the sixth grade onwards and will be brought forward from the third grade onwards”, said Milei.
The Argentine president proposed a “change in educational culture” to differentiate himself from the Kirchnerist governments of former presidents Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Kirchner and Alberto Fernández.
“We will not be complacent about illiteracy, because that is what brought us here. We must recover the value of demand and the pursuit of excellence. Demand is good, not bad. Assessment is good, not bad. Let us be clear: assessment is not stigmatization,” said the president.
Statistics detailed by Milei show that half of elementary school students do not achieve the appropriate level of reading comprehension for their age, a number that rises to 70% by sixth grade, “so it is not surprising that, given this gap in the foundation, only 54% of those who enter high school graduate, and less than two in ten do so on time.”
Milei recalled that Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to eliminate illiteracy and is the country in the region with the highest number of Nobel Prize winners. He recalled former President Domingo Sarmiento, who was born in San Juan and was recognized for promoting education during his government.
#Milei #launches #literacy #plan #increases #educational #resources #requirements