Project to Connect Oportunidades and INEA

1. INEA Project to Connect Oportunidades and INEA

2. Institutional Objectives Objetive of Oportunidades One objective is to help beneficiaries connect with services and programs that would help to improve their socioeconomic conditions and quality of life. Objetive of the National Institute for Adult Education (INEA) Define, set standrds, and propose pedagogical models, materials and content, as well as the registration, assessment of learning, accreditation and certification of basic education for adults.

3. Adult Education: An Additional Benefit of Oportunidades Objetive To enable beneficiaries of Oportunidades with educational gaps to have the opportunity, if they so desire, to finish their basic education and acquire competencies that would enable them to partcipate in the development and exercise of their citizenship, improve their quality of life and expand thier opportunities. Population Program participants and family members 15 years and over with education gaps.

4. Education Gap in Oportunidades Total population Oportunidades No complete basic education Illiterate Incomplete middle school Incomplete high school

5. Zacatecas: the education gap is concentrated en Oportunidades GAP (Percentage among beneficiaries) No complete basic education Illiterate Incomplete middle school Incomplete high school

6. The initiative within the perspective of the recommendations of evaluations • Many women want to learn to read and write in order to complete forms and to sign papers, and to “defend themselves” in both the public and private spheres (Adato, M.) • There is a strong relationship between low schooling, especially of mothers, and education failure among children (Schmelkes, S.) • Children with lower height have mothers with lower schooling levels. There are three times as many of these children among mothers without any schooling compared to those with basic education (Hernández, D.) • In order to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty it is necessary to work with children as well adults. (Castañeda, T.)

7. Operating Modalities Implemented since 2003 • First Scheme:(2003 – 2004). • The “Health Talks” were given by advisors. • INEA certified attendance at the talks. • Studying in INEA was optional. • Directed at adult participants in Program. • Second Scheme: (2004 – 2005). • The “Health Talks” were replaced by registering with INEA and taking at least one exam per semester. • INEA informed Health each semester on the participants who had complied and been certified. • Directed at adult participants and other family members.

8. Third Scheme:(starting in 2006) • It does not replace any of the co-responsibilities in Health. • Participation is voluntary. • Based on joint promotional activities Oportunidades-INEA. Annual National Resuslts

9. Results of the project in Zacatecas • With a total of 107,000 families, it is possible to say that: • 1.28 individuals with an education gap in each family were assisted • In one out of two families, one of the family members concluded some level of basic education Zacatecas went from 13% to 25% of the national average

10. Factors of Success • Assuring the Service • Oportunidades functions on the basis of commitments of the areas of education, health, and social development. • For the execution of this project, the Zacatecano Institute of Adult Education (IZEA) guaranteed the coverage and quality of services and reoriented their activities towards the population in greater poverty. • In 2003 the population of Oportunidades represented only 24.4% of their participants, now they represent 75.4%. • In 2003 only 7.9% of the completions of education level occurred among the beneficiaries of Oportunidades; now they represent 93.7%

11. Interinstitucional Coordination • Public education and health institutions participate in the operation and supervision of Oportunidades. • The management personnel carry out monitoring through Government Technical Committees that meet every two months. • In addition, in Zacatecas every two months they hold regional (7) meetings in order that the analysis of results and solutions to operational problems are brought to the attention of those directly responsible and of municipal authorities. • Starting in 2003, the management and operational staff of IZEA participated regularly in these meetings. • Not only the advisors of IZEA, but also the teachers, health personnel and operational staff of Oportunidades participated and committed themselves to the development of the project.

12. Education for Health • The education service “supply”, the Module “Education for Life and Work (MEVyT)” of INEA, reflects the needs and interests, experiences and knowledge of young people and adults. • Moreover, in the framework of this project, a module Health and Life was developed, designed specifically for the Oportunidades population with education gaps. • This material made it possible to articulate a focus on preventive health with the development of education competencies. • In Zacatecas they are using widely so that the “health workshops”, a co-responsibility of the families, are provided in a more attractive format with a better methodology. Carrying out these workshops is the responsibility of health personnel and IZEA advisors.

13. Conclusions • The major part of the national educational gap is concentrated in families assisted by Oportunidades. • Through an interinstitutional activity in which educational institutions, as well as those of health and social development in the three levels of government (federal, state, municipal) participate, it can be demonstrated, that without additional resources, it is possible to address the problem. • Also it is demonstrated that the youth and adult population have an interest in their own education if the supply of services and necessarry incentives are made available to them.

14. Even with this effort, it will take several decades to resolve the problem of the gap in primary and secondary educational attainment. In order to accelerate the process it would be necessary to: • Reduce school dropouts among children and youth • Attend earlier to the gap (15 to 25 years old) • Increase the participation of the population through new incentives, among others training for employment and financing for productive activities.