The National Council for Elderly People joins the Literacy Plan

The National Council for Elderly People joins the Literacy Plan
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1/3/2013

The National Council for Elderly People (CONAPE in Spanish) will teach 258,970 elderly adults to read and write over the course of the next two years, as part of a program called “QuisqueyaAprendeConmigo” [“Dominicans learn with me”] which will be carried out by the government of President Danilo Medina.

Nathali María shared these facts during the launching of “Alfabetizando al Adulto Mayor” [Teaching the Elderly to Read], which is the platform the institution is using to reach illiterate grandfathers and grandmothers in the Dominican Republic, 42,500 of whom have already been identified.

The executive director of CONAPE, Nathali María, pointed out that this number represents 30.26% of the Dominican Republic’s elderly population, which according to the National Statistics Office, is a total of 855,936 people.

Nathali María shared these facts during the launching of “Alfabetizando al Adulto Mayor” [Teaching the Elderly to Read], which is the platform the institution is using to reach illiterate grandfathers and grandmothers in the Dominican Republic, 42,500 of whom have already been identified.

She noted that out of those 42,500, 16,574 can’t even read or write to a level of 39%. These people are grouped around 128 focal points that will provide literacy to 2,203 senior citizens in Greater Santo Domingo as well as in 14 provinces. For this task, she noted, we have 149 volunteers consisting of 128 teachers and 21 coordinators, who will undertake the first stage, as established by President Danilo Medina.

CONAPE will coordinate with NGO’s that work with senior citizensto provide literacy to seniors who are already a part of their programs and because these organizations are already tapped into the elderly population and can be used to better reach them.

Ms. Maríaindicated that thanks to these entities, CONAPE has been able to work with elderly people, with the literacy program “CalleporCalle” [“Street by Street”] adding that this initiative has served as experience to generate the focal points for “Teaching the Elderly to Read.”