Alexia Villasenor
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, January 13, 2026, p. 6
Given the educational lag and illiteracy in the country, where 4.1 million people over 15 years of age do not know how to read or write, the National Institute for Adult Education (INEA) recognized various challenges to combat this problem, among them, not having their own educational spaces, centers without personnel specialized in teacher training, community places with obsolete computer equipment and lack of coverage in all the municipalities of the country.
According to its 2025-2030 Institutional Program, it noted that the operation of the institute’s educational services is present in 2,044 municipalities, that is, 82 percent of those in all of Mexico. He argued that the complexity in each region hinders the appropriate performance of educational services, in areas that are difficult to access, with high rates of insecurity, limited resources for the mobilization of the service and delivery of support materials (flip charts, brochures, teaching materials, among others) for educational consulting.
Regarding the spaces assigned or destined for the development and support of consultancies, there are 40,161 study circles, 3,382 meeting points and 2,610 community places, which, he maintained, emulate a school campus as much as possible.
Although the community squares have computer equipment to promote the use of digital platforms for the educational process and the presentation of online exams, “the influx of students has not been as expected.” He stressed that much of the infrastructure in these spaces has deteriorated due to the use of equipment, others are obsolete due to technological advances, and the investment for their replacement is insufficient due to budgetary and regulatory limitations.
Another challenge is the rotation of volunteers who participate in educational services, who carry out their training mainly in person, which delays the processes for the beginning of educational advice to young people and adults enrolled in the programs.
He highlighted that an area of opportunity is to intensify distance training through INEA’s digital platforms, as well as the development of digital supports and resources for use on electronic devices, especially for those learners of ages in which the use of mobile phones is more frequent.
