Interactive education center for Hispanics opens in Denver

Agencia EFE, December 18, 2001

DENVER (EFE) -- Representatives from the Mexican government on Monday inaugurated an interactive education center for Hispanic immigrants at a Denver public school.

The center features an interactive curriculum utilizing the Internet and satellite television that will allow immigrant students to take classes in everything from basic English to college preparatory courses transmitted directly from Mexican schools and universities. "Pl@za E-Mexico" is the first interactive learning institution aimed at Spanish-speakers in the heart of Denver's Hispanic district.

"The use of new technologies in education and job training are prevalent in the United States, but our people don't always have access to those technologies," said Mario Hernandez, spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Denver.

"We are looking to provide Mexicans access to formal and informal education through these centers, using community education services based on digital technology," Hernandez said.

The center's inauguration is a sign of the high level of cooperation achieved between Mexican authorities and the Denver Public Schools, Hernandez added.

According to Hernandez, lack of access to high technology common in the United States puts Hispanic immigrants at a disadvantage.

The Mexican Foreign Secretariat developed the Pl@zas Comunitarias E-Mexico program and implemented it in Denver with the help of the public school system to breach the digital divide, hoping to help Hispanic immigrants familiarize themselves with new technologies.

"This cooperation between Mexico and the Denver Public Schools makes sense, because 54 percent of the 74,000 DPS students are Mexicans or Mexican-Americans," Hernandez said.

"The parents of those students need to continue educating themselves like their children," Hernandez said.

Some 33 percent of Denver's population is Hispanic, and 85 percent of the city's Hispanics are Mexican or of Mexican descent, according to the consulate.

An estimated 400,000 Mexicans live in the six counties that make up the Greater Denver area.

The Pl@za E-Mexico is located in northwest Denver, where 65 percent of the population is Hispanic.

The center was inaugurated Monday afternoon by Melba Pria, head of Mexico's program for immigrant communities abroad, Ramon de la Pe a, director of Mexico's national adult education institute, and Mexican Consul in Denver Leticia Calzada Gomez.

At the ceremony, Calzada Gomez said "this is one more step" in providing educational support for Mexicans in Colorado.

Last year, Mexican authorities signed an agreement with the Aurora Public Schools allowing Mexicans 18 years old or older to attend classes in Spanish to obtain high school diplomas from the school district.

The Mexican Consulate in Denver donated more than 70,000 books in Spanish to Colorado's public and school libraries.