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An Analysis of Mexican Literacy*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Thomas V. Greer
Thomas V. Greer*
Affiliation:
College Of Business Administration, Louisiana State University
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Extract

The ability to read and write in some language is of fundamental importance and is usually considered one of the prime indicators of the social and economic accomplishments and potential of a nation. The Ecuadorian scholar Gonzalo Rubio Orbe declares that "among the minimum and elementary requirements of the cultural capacity of the population for general development, and, in particular, economic development, nothing less than the elimination of illiteracy can be demanded."

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Inter-American Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , July 1969 , pp. 466 - 476
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1969

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Footnotes

*

The research for this paper was done while the author was at Universidad de las Americas in Mexico City under a Fulbright research and teaching grant for the academic year 1966-67. He expresses deep appreciation to all who so graciously cooperated with him. Because he received advice and help from so many persons, and because some did not wish to be identified, no individual acknowledgments are made.

References

1 Translated by the author from Gonzalo Rubio Orbe, “Educación y Integración de grupos indígenas,” América Indígena XXV (July, 1960), 194.

2 Speech by Eduardo Frei at UNICEF regional conference, Santiago, Chile, November-December, 1965. United Nations. Economic and Social Council, Educational Needs in a Modern Society and the Right to Education in Latin America, ST/ECLA/Conf. 20/ L.4, Nov., 1965 (New York, 1965), p. 2.

3 Except where otherwise noted, all statistics are taken (or in most instances computed) from the Censo General de Población (Mexico City: Secretaría de Industria y Comercio, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960). This agency has changed names several times through the years but remains the central institution for census research and publishing and maintenance of prior census materials.

4 Pan American Union, America en Cifras, 1961 (Washington, D. C : Pan American Union, 1961), Section 81, p. 4 Google Scholar.

5 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Statistical Yearbook, 1964 (New York: United Nations, 1965), pp. 691–697 Google Scholar.

6 In these computations, the author classified the states in a manner commonly used by Mexicans. The central states are Aguascalientes, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, and the Federal District. It should be noted that inclusion of the Federal District in the central states figure is a mild distorting factor. Excluding the Federal District gives men a slightly greater literacy differential with respect to women (59.5 versus 51.7 per cent). The only major deviation in the pattern of lower literacy for both men and women as one moves from north to south in the country is the Federal District.

7 Arthur Lewis, W., “Science, Men, and Money,” in Gruber, Ruth (Editor), Science and the New Nations (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1961), p. 26 Google Scholar.

8 For a somewhat stronger view, see Oscar Lewis, “Mexico Since Cárdenas,” in Adams, Richard N. et al., Social Change in Latín America Today: Its Implications for United States Policy (New York: Vintage Books, 1960), p. 332 Google Scholar.

9 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Statistical Yearbook, 1965 (New York: United Nations, 1966), pp. 725, 726Google Scholar.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid., pp. 717,721