An alarming fact about the reading comprehension of primary school students led to the launch of a campaign to reverse it. According to a recent report from the Argentine Observatory for Education, based on the results of the Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (ERCE), 46% of 3rd grade students do not reach the minimum reading level. In other words, one in two students does not understand a text appropriate to her age.
This worrying scenario led to the launch of the campaign #NoEntiendenLoQueLeen. The initiative is promoted by more than 100 civil society organizations -Asociación Conciencia, Educar y Crecer, ACDE, the Group of Foundations and Companies (GDFE), Fundación Leer y Enseñá por Argentina, among others- and seeks to make visible the “critical situation of reading comprehension in Argentina, indicated the organization Argentinos por la Educación.
The purpose is to ensure that all boys and girls by the end of third grade understand what they read. The initiative aims to raise awareness about the reading difficulties that affect Argentine students, and to mobilize the entire society to contribute to the improvement of learning.
In addition, they reported, they request the President and the presidential candidates to develop a plan to prioritize literacy policies, including technical support to the provinces and the transfer of resources, in addition to the periodic implementation of Pruebas Aprender in 3rd grade. In the case of the provincial states, it is sought that the incumbent and elected governors commit themselves to ensure that all students finish third grade understanding what they read. Commitment implies investing resources, executing a plan and making results visible.
A critical diagnosis
In Argentina, 46% of students in the 3rd grade of primary school do not reach the minimum reading level. But when analyzing the data in detail, another worrying situation is verified: the figure rises to 61.5% among students in the lowest socioeconomic level tercile. In contrast, this figure is reduced to 26.3% among students in the tercile with the highest socioeconomic level, according to the results of the ERCE regional test, taken in 2019, in which 16 Latin American countries participated.
Likewise, it is observed that only one in ten students (14%) is located in the highest performance level in reading. In the region, the average is two out of ten (21%). And in Brazil and Peru, three out of ten students.
In most Latin American countries there is a positive correlation between learning outcomes and the level of wealth measured by GDP per capita. However, with an average of 689 points on the ERCE test, Argentina performs worse than countries with similar levels of GDP per capita such as Brazil (748 points), Cuba (730) and Mexico (713 points). Several countries with lower GDP per capita perform better, such as Peru (753), Colombia (715), Ecuador (699), and El Salvador (697).
Furthermore, when looking at the evolution of grade 3 reading results between 2013 and 2019, Argentina presents one of the largest drops in the region (-2%), surpassed only by Guatemala (-3.2%). Other countries, meanwhile, managed to maintain or even improve their position in the same period. The greatest advances were recorded in the average score of students from Brazil (+5.1%) and Peru (+4.7%).
Since the beginning of the series, in 2006, our country has been losing positions, warns the report. In that year, Argentina was ranked 5th. In 2013, it had dropped to 7th. And today, it occupies the 8th position.
