BajaNews
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Some 5.3 million illiterates in Mexico 100 years after revolution
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/03/04/53-million-...
March 04, 2011
EFE
Mexico City – More than 5.3 million Mexicans over the age of 15 are unable to read and write more than a century after the outbreak of the 1910-1917
Mexican Revolution, during which time the population has grown from 15.2 million inhabitants to 112.3 million, the INEGI statistics agency reported.
Upon releasing the final results of the 2010 National Population and Housing Census, the president of INEGI, Eduardo Sojo, said that the number of
illiterates in the country has dropped almost 5.5 percent, from 12.4 percent in 1990 to 6.9 percent in 2010.
According to INEGI, the states with the highest illiteracy rates are Chiapas, with 17 percent of the total, followed by Guerrero and Oaxaca, which
account for 16.7 percent and 16.3 percent of the total, respectively.
The states with the lowest rates were the Federal District (Mexico City), with 2.1 percent of the total, Nuevo Leon (2.2 percent), Baja California
(2.6 percent), and Coahuila (2.6 percent).
INEGI said that with its 112.3 million inhabitants, Mexico has the 11th largest population in the world.
The metropolitan area that includes the central state of Mexico and the Federal District has a population of 20.1 million inhabitants, the third
largest in the world, trailing only Tokyo and New Delhi.
One relevant aspect found in the census was the change in the composition of the population pyramid, in which the number of minors declined in
comparison with the rest of the population, while the number of adults increased.
In the past five years, 1.1 million Mexicans emigrated, and of those, 351,000 returned, while some 721,000 were still in other countries at the time
of the census.
The states with the highest levels of emigration are Guanajuato (10.8 percent of the total), Jalisco (7.7 percent), Michoacan (7.7 percent), Mexico
(6.8 percent), and Puebla (6.6 percent).
INEGI said that compared with the volume of emigrants noted in the 2000 census, the number has dropped by 31.9 percent.
With regard to immigrants, the agency said that residing in the country are some 961,000 people born in other countries, an amount that has tripled in
the last 20 years.
As for the Indian population, INEGI said that some 15.7 million people in the country are considered indigenous, of whom only 6.6 million speak an
Indian language, while the other 9.1 million do not.
One curious fact is that 400,000 of the people who speak Mexico's indigenous languages do not consider themselves Indians.
With regard to religious preferences, 83.9 percent identify themselves as Catholics and 7.6 percent as evangelical Christians. Other religions make up
2.5 percent of the preferences, while 4.6 percent said they were not affiliated with any religion.
Of the 35 million homes in the country, only 28 million are inhabited, leaving 4 million uninhabited and the rest occupied part time.
Of the 28 million homes that are occupied, 92.6 percent have television, 82.1 percent a refrigerator, 79.5 percent have radio, 45 percent have a car,
43.2 percent a telephone line, 29.4 percent a computer and 21.3 percent have Internet access, while in 65 percent of households at least one
inhabitant uses a mobile phone.
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woody with a view
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there all all kinds of racial prejudices, stereotypes, and innuendos in this story. you could say the same about every country in the world.
4% illiterate? and how many Mexicans in the US who speak english don't consider themselves American?
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DENNIS
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On the other hand, how many can forecast the weather for a two week period after watching ants for fifteen minutes?
It ain't all about us.
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Bajahowodd
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Stats can be massaged for many reasons.
At least, according to this graphic, over 92% of Mexicans are literate. I'm guessing that factors such as the percentage of indigenous population will
affect these numbers.
What I do find of great interest would probably fall into the category of what a success Mussolini was because the trains ran on time.
Seems that the old Soviet Union countries lead the pack in literacy. Totalitarianism works?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_r...
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Dave
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Big Deal
| Quote: | | More than 5.3 million Mexicans over the age of 15 are unable to read and write |
The U.S., the wealthiest country in the world has that beat...by more than double. 
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Woooosh
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I'd like to see the literacy breakdown by age group with my presumption being the younger you are, the more literate you likely are. Good and
accessible schools haven't been around for 100 years for sure. More than 1 in 5 houses have internet access and that's much higher than I would have
thought- but likely the reason social change nudged by "iTransparency" (YouTube, BlogdelNarco, etc. ) is rapidly taking place before our eyes. What's
with all the unoccupied houses with one in three emigrants who left Mexico in the past five years returning? Didn't they go back home? And who leaves
a house down here empty... ever?
[Edited on 3-7-2011 by Woooosh]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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redhilltown
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Personally I wanna meet the almost 5% with no religious affiliation!
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by redhilltown
Personally I wanna meet the almost 5% with no religious affiliation! |
I'm not so sure I want to meet them, but even the narco head-hunters have a Patron Saint
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BajaGringo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Woooosh
I'd like to see the literacy breakdown by age group with my presumption being the younger you are, the more literate you likely are. Good and
accessible schools haven't been around for 100 years for sure. More than 1 in 5 houses have internet access and that's much higher than I would have
thought- but likely the reason social change nudged by "iTransparency" (YouTube, BlogdelNarco, etc. ) is rapidly taking place before our eyes. What's
with all the unoccupied houses with one in three emigrants who left Mexico in the past five years returning? Didn't they go back home? And who leaves
a house down here empty... ever?
[Edited on 3-7-2011 by Woooosh] |
Not too smart to leave an unoccupied house down here. If you find it on the tax records, pay the past due (which most are) and then keep the taxes
paid for a few more years it can be yours...
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gnukid
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Imagine going to school where there are very few books or paper and pencils or chalk and chalk board. Even with a strong effort by the teacher many
students leave school after the age of 12-15 years old with very little experience reading and writing. After leaving school, there are fewer and
fewer opportunities to read since it's not required, other factors such as vision problems or health issues may add to illiteracy.
While illiteracy may be common few people may be aware of their inability to read since it doesn't come into play in their daily lives-No books nor
newspapers, no web access.
It seems that there are many factors that lead some Mexicans toward illiteracy, mainly it's lack of opportunity to be engaged by reading and writing.
Many of those who claim they can read actually have very poor literacy. The issue of illiteracy leads to miscommunication between those who reply on
written instruction and contract versus those who may claim to understand while they do not.
Interestingly, written language is subject to misinterpretation due to the fact the author's words may be adapted, edited, improperly punctuated or
improperly emphasized which leads to criticism of writing as poor medium to communicate clearly. Prior to written language and during the transition
to written language being popular, the oral tradition was considered a far superior method, less prone to miscommunication and misinterpretation.
Socrates was a great proponent of oral communication over written language and today there are many who still hold this to be true. For example the
study of the Koran is an oral tradition which is believed to provide greater consistency than written archives due to manipulation of texts such as
been seen in christian texts.
The subject is very interesting to consider, especially when we observe a great deal of misunderstanding and misinterpretation here on BN among those
considered highly literate.
This issue is relevant to Nomads since we often, I think, expect our counterparts to understand written communication, whether contracts or
instructions for a job, while both parties may be nodding their heads there may be little clear communication or agreement.
[Edited on 3-7-2011 by gnukid]
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durrelllrobert
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illeteracy in the US is 14% or over 32 million after 235 years according to .www.livescience.com/3211-14-percent-adults- read.html 
[Edited on 3-7-2011 by durrelllrobert]
Bob Durrell
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by durrelllrobert
illeteracy in the US is 14% or over 32 million after 235 years according to .www.livescience.com/3211-14-percent-adults- read.html
[Edited on 3-7-2011 by durrelllrobert] |
all these stats. none of you (or perhaps all of you) realize that there are so many definitions of literacy that comparing stats is meaningless.
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Woooosh
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When I lived in Memphis- ebonics was seriously being discussed in public schools as an alternative to the kids graduating high school and being
illiterate in the king's English. Many definitions. All part of the dumbing-down of America. The high-tech toys with user spelling "shortcuts"
hasn't helped either Goat.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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Bajahowodd
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I do agree that the definition of literacy is a moving target. Given, for instance, the new age of communication. Think Twitter, among others. It may
be a form of successful communication, but it has substantial shortcomings.
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Terry28
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32 million illiterates in the U.S. ....and several on this board....
Mexico!! Where two can live as cheaply as one.....but it costs twice as much.....
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Terry28
32 million illiterates in the U.S. ....and several on this board.... |
They won't see this. 
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vgabndo
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I submit that part of the problem with illiteracy in the USA has a (perhaps unrealized) connection to the fact that only here in the world is
Christianity on the rise. Here, as opposed to Mexico we have a national religion, and EVERYTHING involved in a good education flies in the face of
the national delusion that everything that exists was created by a mythical bronze age deity in six days 6000 years ago.
Martin Luther had it just right when he expressed that an educated rational mind is the arch enemy of religion.
The new Republicans in congress just decided to eliminate some of the competition for their million dollar contributor, FOX Propaganda, by eliminating
public funding for the one non-partisan newscast on the air. PBS (There was no shortage of guns for shooting Big Bird!)
Dumbing Down America plays VERY much into the hands of the right wingers who want to go back to the "old" American values. The unions, whom they hate,
eliminated the use of children for labor in the factories, and got the workers a day off now and then and it was really bad for the corporate bottom
line. Before that the stupid people hurt business really bad when they made big business stop using slave labor. The best that corporate America and
its Christian dominionist buddies can hope for now is to get the population broke enough that they'll start working for a credit at the "company"
store again. That should increase profits.
I don't expect the Palenites to begin supporting education, but at least they could be good enough to give some of our tax dollars back in the form of
schools as nice as the ones we are building in FREAKING IRAQ.
Sorry, the appraiser just told me my house lost another $50,000 in 12 months. I just looked it up. That is almost exactly what a single air to ground
Hellfire missile costs. Boy do I feel special. Semper Fi
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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Bajahowodd
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Interesting. For those of you who have access to PBS, there is a new anniversary show commemorating Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Watched it last
night and was stunned. Given the fact that it was not an ideologically political show, such as what the Smothers Brothers did, I was really amazed,
after all these years about a bit they did, lambasting the pentagon and congress for funding billions of dollars for a panoply of weapons. I'm talking
1969!. And, consider that one of the producers of that show was Paul Keyes, who was also a Nixon speechwriter.
Just serves to show how this nation has drifted to the right over the past several decade.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgic journey and recommend to everyone that they should check their PBS lisitngs to find the show.
Bottom line, it made me feel older.
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