Tadeo García Salazar on Aconcagua Radio: "We need to speed up the process."

The results of the latest Aprender tests yielded encouraging results for Mendoza, although they also highlighted structural challenges in early literacy. Speaking with Aconcagua Radio , the Minister of Education , Culture, and Childhood and head of the General Directorate of Schools (DGE), Tadeo García Salazar, analyzed the results and explained the provincial plans to improve reading comprehension and fluency levels in primary and secondary schools.

"Let's start with the positives," the official suggested, highlighting that 71% of third-grade students in Mendoza read at the level expected for their grade level, while the national average is 69%. "We are among the ten highest-ranked provinces," he emphasized. Still, he acknowledged: "We need to accelerate the process."

García Salazar explained that Mendoza anticipated the National Literacy Plan launched last year, as the province has had its own Provincial Literacy Plan for three years. "We conduct fluency and reading comprehension assessments three times a year. This allows us to target actions school by school," he explained.

Thanks to the GEM system—a nominal database that allows individual students to be tracked—the province can identify schools with better or worse results and allocate resources accordingly. “Where we have difficulties, we reinforce with more schedules, more bibliographic materials, and more support,” explained the head of the DGE.

He also highlighted the distribution of free books: "Previously, we only gave them to the fifth grade and first grade; now we've extended them to second and third grade as well."

The glass half empty: persistent gaps

However, it's not all good news. García Salazar acknowledged that socioeconomic status continues to be a determining factor in results: "Children from private schools perform better than those from state-run schools. And this is repeated at the national and provincial levels."

The most worrying figure is the percentage of students who don't reach the minimum reading levels expected: "Nationally, it's 8%. In Mendoza, it's 6%, but it's still a group that requires a lot of attention," he warned.

When asked why progress in results is so slow, he replied: “We are looking at ways to accelerate it. First, we propose moving the assessments forward to the end of first grade. Currently, they are measured in third grade because it is considered part of a pedagogical unit from first to third grade, but we believe that unit should begin in the fifth grade and end in first grade.”

The minister was blunt in highlighting one of the system's paradoxes: "Thirty percent of children don't have books at home, but 96% already have cell phones by the age of eight." This, he said, directly affects the stimulation of reading. "We need books in homes as well, beyond school supplies."

She also mentioned a recent UNICEF and UNESCO report, "Kids Online ," which shows the widespread use of technology at early ages without a clear educational use. "Banning cell phones at school is useless if they then have 20 hours of screen time at home," she opined. "What we need to do is use technology for a specific educational purpose."

Along these lines, he announced that this year Mendoza will incorporate educational platforms such as Matific (primary) and Flexit (secondary), which will allow students to practice language, math, and science with digital tools, even from their cell phones.

The minister also announced progress in technological infrastructure: "This year, we will reach 100% of schools with good connectivity. Today, we're already at 80%." In addition, 700 mobile digital classrooms will be distributed, consisting of 35 laptops, a teacher's laptop, a multimedia projector, and a digital screen.

"The presence of technology in the classroom must be pedagogically mediated. The important thing is not just having the equipment, but using it for learning purposes," he emphasized.

Regarding higher education levels, García Salazar noted that the province also measures reading fluency in all secondary school years. "This allows us to know which schools or grades we're doing best in and where we need to strengthen our skills," he explained. Although there has been a slight improvement in reading comprehension, he admitted that the biggest problem is in mathematics.

"We're slowly improving in language. But math is more complicated. That's why this year Mendoza will be the first province to implement a census-based assessment in math across all years and levels of secondary school," he announced.

García Salazar concluded by emphasizing that all policies promoted by the DGE are based on evidence: "We constantly evaluate. If a measure doesn't work, it's corrected. The important thing is to stay on course consistently and evaluate seriously."

And he reaffirmed the importance of collaborative work: "It takes a large village to educate a child. It's a commitment that involves the school, the state, but also families."

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