specifically and generally the needs of each population, due to the speakers’ diversity of conditions,
who will additionally motivate and strengthen local knowledge with those who already have it.
The
proposal

requires

working

in-depth

specializing

in

matters of

education

and

language
teaching, nevertheless we believe that a first step is to outline a profile in a practical manner with the
experiences we had.
While
the

main

objective

of

reading

and

writing

promotion

is

not

alphabetization,

it

does
integrate to the activities that strengthen these abilities outside the formal academic context, so it is
very important not to lose track that a relationship between disciplines exists and that it can generate
new approaches to design strategies and actions.
Educational conditions of indigenous peoples
To develop a proposal for a reading and writing promotion program in National Indigenous
Languages, we must consider the educational conditions of the indigenous peoples according to the
welfare and development indicators (Schmelkes, 2013), since every population and community has
specific characteristics on which will depend an effective reading and writing promotion.
It is necessary to clarify that the educational conditions in which the indigenous peoples were
registered by INEGI in 2010, as of the last census. Schmelkes points out in an investigation regarding
this matter that the illiterate population rate that speaks an indigenous language diminished between
2005 and 2010 from 34 to 27% (INEGI, 2011), nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that two out
of
three

children

between

ages

4

and

14

not

in

school

are

indigenous,

and

28%

of

the

speaking
population in indigenous languages 15 and older haven’t finished primary education.
The
situation

of

educational

backwardness

and

precariousness

of

the

indigenous

child
population raises circumstances that should be taken into account as they are the conditions that will
be
adapted

to

work

a

scheme

for

reading

and

writing

promotion.

The

main

aspect

that

must

be
considered is the lack of infrastructure and supporting materials, as well as the difficulties accessing
reading
material

and

the

absence

of

practical

writing

tools,

adequate

facilities

to

carry

out

such
activities or the possibility of counting with an always available collection.
Considering the statistics collated by the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEE)
in relation to the
learning

levels of

indigenous children (Schmelkes, 2013), they

learn to read and
write much later than children from non-indigenous schools, but it is important to emphasize that this
is Spanish as a second language, not the mother tongue or natural language (Moreno, 2016). When
reviewing the data by INEGI of 2006, Sylvia Schmelkes mentions that:
As
expected,

this

(illiteracy)

is

true

for

99%

of

monolinguals

in

indigenous

language.

This

gap

is
maintained
by

indigenous

students

compared

to

non-indigenous

students,

although

with

a

shorter

distance,
between 12 and 14 years old, at which age primary education should have already been completed: 1.2% of on-
indigenous population and 5.8 % of it are illiterate.
The mentioned indicators are a sample of the complexity of the situation. However, it is also
evidence of the need to design specific instruments and indicators to gain an in-depth knowledge of
the
situation

of

the

indigenous

population

and

their

linguistic

competences.

On

the

other

hand,
Schmelkes (2013) affirms:
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