LITERACY, BASIC TRAINING AND UNIVERSITY

The proposed goal of eradicating illiteracy by the beginning of the new millennium has not been met. As a result of this, it is necessary to keep working in this direction. Therefore, it is useful to analyze the successful and unsuccessful factors, and then finding reasons for why the later failed. In Spain, illiteracy (i.e. the inability to read, write or perform basic arithmetic operations) has dropped substantially. However, it is still present, in small numbers, among elderly people. Presently, functional illiteracy can be found more often. In the area of basic education for adults, the number of women, young people and emigrants that take part in projects that fight illiteracy has increased. Training of future teachers is important regarding our knowledge of the educational reality of our country. However, we haven't found one single Spanish public university offering courses of study specialized in education for adults. Furthermore, in courses of study like Education, it is not even a core class. Very rarely it is offered as a non core or optional class, with reduced hours. It is also worth mentioning that subjects regarding education for adults always take one semester, and never a whole year. If, in general terms, it is considered that professional success goes hand in hand with specialization, we have to point out the necessity of creating specific courses of study for education for adults, or at least, giving the subject a more important role in the training of future teachers.