Indigenous people and elderly people deprived of their freedom in Concepción learn to read and write

Asuncion, IP Agency.- Six indigenous people and seven elderly people deprived of their freedom in the Regional Penitentiary of Concepción are learning to read and write with a literacy program from the P12 Center of the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), which operates within the prison walls. Initial and basic education is promoted by the Ministry of Justice within the prison.

The Directorate for Attention to Vulnerable Groups of the aforementioned institution ensures that persons deprived of liberty attend classes regularly and receive study advice to become certified in the literacy level, primary and secondary, in accordance with the Bilingual Education Program for young people and adults.

In this way, the State seeks to guarantee the right to education of vulnerable persons deprived of liberty. Likewise, the focus on education is in compliance with the National Model for Social Reintegration of the Ministry of Justice.

The director of the P12 Center, Andrea González, explained that there are two indigenous people in the first cycle, one in the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth, coming from the Paĩ Tavyterã, Ava Guaraní and Mbya Guaraní bias.

They speak their mother tongue, but are learning Spanish; and they are happy, he said, explaining that they are going through a procedural and individual evaluation of qualification, with indicators adapted to their level, because most of them have never set foot in a school.

There are also older adults in the first cycle who are at a syllabic level, that is, they establish a relationship between sound and writing. They learned to add and subtract. Those in the second cycle read and write with some difficulty, add, subtract, multiply and divide, and write short texts. Those in the third cycle read and write, and develop the skills contemplated for that cycle, and others are already in the third and fourth with the ability to write short texts.

The curriculum design program taught in Spanish and Guaraní includes the subjects of Spanish language and literature, Guaraní language and literature, social sciences, natural and health sciences, mathematics and initial vocational training.

The material resources provided by the MEC consist of a kit of school supplies for the participants.

The P12 Center has been an institution for 30 years. It is currently participating in the “Entrepreneurial School Competition” project, where participants carry out leather and craft work, producing and selling the products to cover their basic needs.