Thread: Program helps "immigrants" from Mexico gain litera

Getting a second chance
Program helps immigrants from Mexico gain basic literacy skills
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/30/2008 09:11:06 PM PDT


SAN BERNARDINO - Jose Hernandez started working at 5 years old to help his family put food on the table.
School was out of the question.

His hands were needed to help harvest the corn, peanuts and Jicama grown on his family's farm in Mexico.

"I never had enough money to go to school," the 61-year-old man said in Spanish.

Hernandez came to the United States when he turned 18 in search of a better life.

Over the years, he landed a string of low-wage jobs as a dishwasher, cook and carpet installer.

He quit working several years ago after hurting his back lifting boxes at a meatpacking plant.

While he was educated in the school of life, he never learned to read or write in Spanish.

"I can barely write my own name," the San Bernardino resident admits.

But he has not given up trying to learn.

Hernandez is among the nearly 100 Mexican immigrants who are receiving the formal schooling they never got back home.

The Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino has joined with the Central City Lutheran Mission to offer free Spanish literacy classes for adults who did not finished their primary and secondary studies in Mexico.

Students also can take English as a Second Language and computer courses as part of the program, known as the Plaza Comunitaria (Community Plaza).

Classes are offered Monday through Thursday at the mission on G Street in San Bernardino.

They are also


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available on the Internet via Mexico's National Institute for Adult Education.
Students who complete the required coursework receive official certificates from the Secretary of Public Education in Mexico.

Mexican officials acknowledge that illiteracy is a problem that crosses borders.

"There are people that for different reasons didn't have the opportunity to attend school," said Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Mexico's consul for San Bernardino and Riverside counties. "There are many factors that contribute to that. What we recognize in Mexico is that we should do something about it."

Nearly half of Mexicans age 12 and older lack post-elementary education, according to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information.

More than 40 percent of Mexican nationals over age 25 living in the U.S. have less than a ninth-grade education, according to 2005 data from the Pew Hispanic Center.

Giralt-Cabrales said Mexico has made significant strides in combating illiteracy, even as its population has grown in recent decades.

In 2004, Mexico's illiteracy rate was 9 percent, according to the government.

At the Community Plaza in San Bernardino, students work at their own pace on math, science, history and other subjects.

Some students study basic concepts such as sentence structure, word order and parts of speech in Spanish.

If adults learn how to read and write in their native tongue, it makes it easier for them to pick up those skills in English, said Socorro Zamora, Community Plaza program director.

Sixty percent of the participants in the program have less than a third-grade education, she said.

The classes help improve adults' self-esteem and become motivated to get involved in their children's education, Zamora said.

Maria Rodarte enrolled in the program two months ago to help her son, Roberto, 9, with his homework.

She also wants to learn to read and write so she can fill out medical forms for her 1-year-old son, Jason, who suffers from heart problems.

"When you have to ask for help, you feel shame," the 28-year-old San Bernardino resident said in Spanish. "People laugh at me."

Rodarte started supporting her family at age 12 by working as a seamstress in Mexico. Her goal is a brighter future, for herself as well as her kids, in the United States.

"I'm here because I want to learn English and get a better job," said Rodarte, who works at a paper distribution company in San Bernardino.


http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_8752667

Illiteracy was a huge problem in this country for generations. GENERATIONS.....no special program for them. We were just about to lick that problem until they imported twice as many.........now we're right back to square 1. Thing is....back then you EARNED your way back by education.....not pandering and catering to those who don't even try.

Back then people were REFUSED or DENIED an education......not the case anymore.

Heck.....a big recruiting thing when my Dad went to WW2 was giving them their HS diploma in exchange for service. Ya....my Dad got his HS diploma in exchange for service. Couldn't write his name or balance a check-book.....but he had his diploma.....first one in 17 GENERATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!