Buenos Aires, Argentina

Language and Literacy^a

Although the Constitution of the Argentine Republic does not declare the existence of an official language, Spanish is the language spoken by the majority of its inhabitants and the language in which the population is educated. In all public schools in Argentina, the official language and medium of instruction is Spanish. According to the 2010 census, the proportion of residents identifying as members of an Indigenous group was 2 percent.¹ National Education Law No. 26.206 establishes Intercultural Bilingual Education (also known by its acronym in Spanish, EIB) as one of eight modalities (Chapter XI, Article 52) aiming to guarantee the constitutional right of Indigenous people to education that contributes to preserving and strengthening their cultural norms, languages, world views, and ethnic identity; prepares them to function actively in a multicultural world; and improves their quality of life. In Buenos Aires, EIB policies include creating postgraduate degrees in teaching Spanish as a second language and intercultural education; offering ongoing professional development courses in Spanish as a second language and in foreign languages, including French, English, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese; and creating a centralized registry of bilingual teachers of indigenous languages.

Article 11 of National Education Law No. 26.206 highlights the central goal for public policies to strengthen the focus on reading and writing as a necessary condition for lifelong education as well as for the construction of responsible citizenship and the free flow of knowledge.