School Failure and Children's Literacy in the Core Education Project (CEP) for Latin America and the Caribbean (1980-2000) ¹ 2 3 4

Abstract

The paper analyzes central ideas that permeated the discussions promoted by Unesco on children’s literacy and school failure. The discussions were developed in the scope of the Core Education Project for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEP - 1980-2000). It challenges the supposed neutrality in the action of Unesco through the critical analysis of Bulletins produced throughout this project. It takes Mikhail Bakhtin’s thoughts on the notion of utterance as a theoretical-methodological reference. It concludes that school failure was seen as a core education problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on economic guidelines that were very close to the interests of institutions that were sought to fund educational initiatives to reduce this great challenge.

Keywords
Projeto Principal de Educação; Unesco; Alfabetização de crianças; Fracasso escolar; América Latina e Caribe